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Scientific Solution Partner of Doctors for Epilepsy

We met Santa Farma Epilepsy Team to discuss the current position and activities of the company regarding epilepsy as well as anticipated developments in the treatment of disease in the future.

Could you introduce Santa Farma Epilepsy Team to us?

Santa Farma makes its epilepsy products available to healthcare professionals with its team of psychiatry and neurology professionals focusing on nervous system. Marketing Manager Manolya Hale Solak, Product Manager Nazlı Yıldız and Medical Manager Spec. Dr. Mehmet Emre Abanoz are in charge of the relevant products. Santa Farma, which has offered healthcare services on epilepsy since 2009, is actively working on 2 different antiepileptic products right now.

Could you explain your position in epilepsy?

Before explaining the position of Santa Farma in epilepsy, it might be good to describe epilepsy briefly. Epilepsy is a disease which affects nearly 1% of the world population. The disease does not make any distinction as to gender and race. Epilepsy seizures may occur at any age although it is known that the youngest and the oldest are most affected by the disease.1

Epilepsy is known to have a great impact on the society and create serious problems for both patients and their close circle. With this in mind, Santa Farma has been offering focused services to Turkish medicine since 2009.

As a company dedicated to offering “healthy services to health”, Santa Farma aims to become a distinguished scientific partner of Turkish doctors on epilepsy, as well. Having launched already 2 products on epilepsy, Santa Farma continues to act as the scientific solution partner of doctors thanks to those products which are classified as new generation anti-epileptics.

What do you do to raise awareness about epilepsy and how do you cooperate with the relevant stakeholders in that regard?

At Santa Farma, we are aware of our responsibility to engage in social responsibility and awareness projects for all indications for which we offer products. We post “False Facts” on our corporate social media accounts with a view to creating awareness about “epilepsy” and inform the society about the false facts.

Our main aim is to inform a wider range of people about epilepsy and change the perception about the patients positively. To that end, we provide unconditional scientific support to the doctors in collaboration with Turkish Chapter of International League Against Epilepsy.

What do you expect to achieve in epilepsy treatment in the future?

Recently, a tremendous improvement in epilepsy treatment has been made to reduce the severity of symptoms, provide a seizure-free life and improve the life quality of patients. Thanks to technological progress, wearable seizure detectors have been made to keep track of potential seizures. These devices are also helpful in preventing unexpected deaths in epilepsy caused by uncontrolled seizures. To detect the source of seizures, many non-invasive techniques have been discovered that can directly target the brain region responsible for seizure onset (e.g. stereo-electroencephalography). Once the source of seizure is identified, neurostimulation devices are used for treating epilepsy effectively. In addition, some minimally invasive surgical options such as stereotactic radiosurgery and MRI-guided laser ablation have been developed to avoid the risks of open brain surgeries in epilepsy patients. Similar to surgical improvements, advancement in drug-based treatment has also been made.2 Also, drug studies are underway to cure epileptogenesis in addition to the research conducted on new molecules for epilepsy pathogenesis. Studies are expected to lead to development of effective and reliable drugs with broader spectrum which are easy to use and have fewer side effects.

References:

1. http://www.turkepilepsi.org.tr/menu/29/epilepsi-nedir


2. Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Advancements in Epilepsy Treatment, https://www.news-medical.net/health/-Advancements-in-Epilepsy-Treatment.aspx