The Safety and Efficacy Evaluation of Everolimus as an Adjunctive Treatment for Focal Refractory Epilepsy

Launched by XUANWU HOSPITAL, BEIJING · Jul 24, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is testing a medicine called everolimus to see if it can help people with a type of epilepsy that doesn’t get better with usual treatments. Everolimus is being studied as an add-on therapy, meaning it would be used alongside current epilepsy medicines. The researchers hope that this drug, which works by targeting a specific pathway in the brain (called mTOR), can reduce seizures when given during seizure events. This could offer a new option for people whose seizures are difficult to control.

To join this study, participants need to be adults between 18 and 60 years old who have a specific kind of epilepsy called focal epilepsy, where seizures start in one part of the brain. They must have had frequent seizures (at least 16 in 8 weeks) that last at least 30 seconds and cause some loss of awareness, and their epilepsy must not have improved after trying at least two different seizure medicines for at least two years. People with other serious health issues or certain types of epilepsy won’t be eligible. Participants will be asked to keep a diary of their seizures, follow a schedule of study visits, and take the study medication as directed. The trial is currently recruiting, offering hope for those who have not found relief with existing treatments.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age between 18 and 60 years (inclusive), regardless of sex.
• • Diagnosis of epilepsy, meeting the criteria for focal seizures or focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures as defined by the 2017 International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classification.
• • History of epileptic seizures lasting ≥30 seconds, accompanied by impaired awareness.
• • At least 16 focal seizures during the 8-week baseline period prior to enrollment, with no seizure-free interval of 21 consecutive days.
• • Findings on electroencephalography (EEG) or neuroimaging (MRI or CT) performed within 2 years prior to screening consistent with a diagnosis of focal epilepsy, and exclusion of progressive structural central nervous system lesions or progressive encephalopathy.
• • Diagnosis of drug-resistant epilepsy, defined as failure to achieve sustained seizure freedom despite adequate trials of at least two appropriately chosen and tolerated antiseizure medications (ASMs) over a period of 2 years. - Existing ASMs must have no known drug-drug interactions with everolimus and must have been administered at a stable dose for at least 12 weeks prior to enrollment.
• • Use of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) or deep brain stimulation (DBS) is permitted, provided the device was implanted at least 5 months prior to screening, with stimulation parameters stable for at least 12 weeks before enrollment and maintained unchanged throughout the study.
• • Written informed consent to participate in the study, provided voluntarily by the subject.
• • In the investigator's judgment, the subject is able to comply with the requirements of the study protocol, including understanding and completing seizure diaries, adhering to the visit schedule, and taking study medications as directed.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Diagnosis of primary generalized epilepsy.
• • History of non-epileptic events (e.g., psychogenic non-epileptic seizures).
• • Patients with only non-motor focal seizures according to the 2017 ILAE classification.
• • Epilepsy with identifiable and treatable causes (e.g., metabolic disorders, intoxication, infection, space-occupying lesions, or confirmed genetic abnormalities).
• • Inability to accurately count seizures due to excessively frequent episodes within the 12 months prior to study drug administration.
• • History of epileptic seizure clusters within the 12 months prior to study drug administration.
• • History of status epilepticus within the 12 months prior to study drug administration.
• • Use of mTOR pathway inhibitors within the 12 months prior to study drug administration.
• • History of cerebrovascular events (e.g., cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, or transient ischemic attack) or progressive intracranial lesions within the 6 months prior to study drug administration.
• • Presence of severe uncontrolled diseases, including immunodeficiency disorders, hepatic or renal disease, acute infection, significant pulmonary dysfunction, or advanced malignancy.
• • Severe cardiovascular or peripheral vascular disease, such as New York - Heart Association (NYHA) class III-IV heart failure, malignant arrhythmias (e.g., long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome, conduction block), any other clinically significant ECG abnormalities, or myocardial infarction within 3 months prior to screening.
• • History of any condition or surgery that, in the investigator's opinion, could affect absorption, distribution, or metabolism of the study drug (e.g., active gastric ulcer, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, intestinal obstruction), or presence of dysphagia.
• • Any medical condition, psychiatric disorder, cognitive impairment, or intellectual disability that, in the investigator's judgment, may increase the risk to the subject or interfere with study participation.
• • Laboratory abnormalities meeting any of the following criteria: alanine aminotransferase (ALT) \>2× upper limit of normal (ULN), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) \>2× ULN, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) \>2× ULN, platelet count \<80×10⁹/L, neutrophil count \<1.8×10⁹/L, or creatinine clearance (CLcr) \<30 mL/min (calculated by the Cockcroft-Gault formula).
• • Female subjects who test positive for pregnancy during screening or who are breastfeeding.
• • History of alcohol or substance abuse within 2 years prior to study drug administration.
• • Participation in any other clinical trial within 3 months prior to study drug administration, except for non-interventional clinical trials.
• • Known hypersensitivity or allergy to any component of everolimus tablets.
• • Current use of medications that may affect the central nervous system or the metabolism of everolimus.