The European Medicines Agency review of pitolisant for treatment of narcolepsy: summary of the scientific assessment by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use

- A marketing authorization was issued in the European Union (EU) for pitolisant for the treatment of narcolepsy.
- Pitolisant is a first-in-class drug acting on histamine H3 receptors.
- This article summarizes the scientific review leading to approval of pitolisant in the EU.

On 31 March 2016, the European Commission issued a decision for a marketing authorisation valid throughout the European Union (EU) for pitolisant (Wakix) for the treatment of narcolepsy with or without cataplexy in adults. Pitolisant is an antagonist/inverse agonist of the human histamine H3 receptor. The dose should be selected using an up-titration scheme depending on individual patient response and tolerance and should not exceed 36 mg/day.The main evidence of efficacy of pitolisant was based on two Phase III clinical trials. The improvement on excessive daytime sleepiness was shown against placebo in the Harmony I study (−3.33 points; 95% confidence interval (CI) [−5.83; −0.83]; p = 0.024) and in Harmony CTP (−3.41 points; 95% CI [−4.95; −1.87]; p < 0.0001). The daily cataplexy rate in Harmony I improved against placebo with a rate ratio (rR) of 0.38 whilst in the Harmony CTP the ratio of improvement on weekly cataplexy rate against placebo was 0.512. The most commonly reported adverse reactions were headache, insomnia and nausea. This article summarizes the scientific review leading to approval of pitolisant in the EU. The assessment report and product information are available on the European Medicines Agency website (http://www.ema.europa.eu).