It looks like phenobarbital is all the rage this year: hot on the heels of Virbac's launch of Epirepress, Dechra has announced the launch of Soliphen, another phenobarbital presentation for the management of canine epilepsy. 

Dechra says phenobarbital is effective as a monotherapy in 60 to 80 per cent of dogs with idiopathic epilepsy, but that in 40% of dogs, seizures cannot be controlled with phenobarbital alone. In these cases the company's potassium bromide treatment Libromide, is licensed to be used alongside Soliphen as a concurrent therapy. 

According to the company, the combination of phenobarbital and potassium bromide has been shown to reduce seizure number and severity in dogs with refractory idiopathic epilepsy; in tests, the combination treatment reduced the mean seizure rate from 27.4 seizures per month to 2.2 seizures.

Dechra Veterinary Products Brand Manager Craig Sankey said: "Epilepsy is the most common chronic canine neurological disorder, affecting around 0.62 per cent of dogs.

"It can be a distressing condition for both the animal and its owner so we are launching a therapy that can reduce the number of seizures in even the most challenging cases.

"We have also produced new guidelines for prescribing vets, detailing step by step how the treatments can act alone or concurrently. We believe using Soliphen as a sole therapy or in conjunction with Libromide will make a positive contribution to veterinary professionals in their ongoing treatment and management of dogs with epilepsy."

For more information, visit www.dechra.co.uk

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