Brivaracetam: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Brivaracetam is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names, for seizures. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats (across its forms)
- Seizures
- Available as
- Injectable · Solution · Tablet
- Sold as
- 2 products — Briviact and Brivaracetam
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $0.26 per ml — not your price
How brivaracetam is dosed
From the FDA label for Briviact (application NDA205837). Other brivaracetam products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Adults (16 Years and Older): The recommended starting dosage for monotherapy or adjunctive therapy is 50 mg twice daily (100 mg per day). Based on individual patient tolerability and therapeutic response, the dosage may be adjusted down to 25 mg twice daily (50 mg per day) or up to 100 mg twice daily (200 mg per day). ( 2.1 ) Pediatric Patients (1 Month to less than 16 Years): The recommended dosage is based on body weight and is administered orally twice daily ( 2.1 ) Injection: for intravenous use only when oral administration is temporarily not feasible; dosing is the same as oral regimen. ( 2.1 , 2.3 ) Hepatic Impairment: Dose adjustment is recommended for all stages of hepatic impairment. ( 2.5 ) 2.1 Dosage Information Monotherapy or Adjunctive Therapy The recommended dosage for patients 1 month of age and older is included in Table 1. In pediatric patients weighing less than 50 kg, the recommended dosing regimen is dependent upon body weight. When initiating treatment, gradual dose escalation is not required. Dosage should be adjusted based on clinical response and tolerability. Table 1: Recommended Dosage for Patients 1 Month of Age and Older Age and Body Weight Initial Dosage Minimum and Maximum Maintenance Dosage Adults (16 years and older) 50 mg twice daily (100 mg per day) 25 mg to 100 mg twice daily (50 mg to 200 mg per day) Pediatric patients weighing 50 kg or…
Brivaracetam side effects
The following serious adverse reactions are described elsewhere in labeling: Suicidal Behavior and Ideation [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Neurological Adverse Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Psychiatric Adverse Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] Hypersensitivity: Bronchospasm and Angioedema [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] Serious Dermatologic Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] Withdrawal of Antiepileptic Drugs [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ] Adults: Most common adverse reactions (at least 5% for BRIVIACT and at least 2% more frequently than placebo) are somnolence/sedation, dizziness, fatigue, and nausea/vomiting. ( 6.1 ) Pediatric Patients: Most common adverse reactions are similar to those seen in adult patients. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact UCB, Inc. at 1-844-599-2273 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch . 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. In all controlled and uncontrolled trials performed in adult epilepsy patients, BRIVIACT was administered as adjunctive therapy to 2437 patients. Of these patients, 1929 were treated…
Who shouldn’t take brivaracetam
Hypersensitivity to brivaracetam or any of the inactive ingredients in BRIVIACT (bronchospasm and angioedema have occurred) [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] . Hypersensitivity to brivaracetam or any of the inactive ingredients in BRIVIACT. ( 4 )
Brivaracetam drug interactions
Rifampin: Because of decreased concentrations, increasing BRIVIACT dosage in patients on concomitant rifampin is recommended. ( 2.6 , 7.1 ) Carbamazepine: Because of increased exposure to carbamazepine metabolite, if tolerability issues arise, consider reducing carbamazepine dosage in patients on concomitant BRIVIACT. ( 7.2 ) Phenytoin: Because phenytoin concentrations can increase, phenytoin levels should be monitored in patients on concomitant BRIVIACT. ( 7.3 ) Levetiracetam: BRIVIACT had no added therapeutic benefit when co-administered with levetiracetam. ( 7.4 ) 7.1 Rifampin Co-administration with rifampin decreases BRIVIACT plasma concentrations likely because of CYP2C19 induction [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . Prescribers should increase the BRIVIACT dose by up to 100% (i.e., double the dosage) in patients while receiving concomitant treatment with rifampin [see Dosage and Administration (2.6) ] . 7.2 Carbamazepine Co-administration with carbamazepine may increase exposure to carbamazepine-epoxide, the active metabolite of carbamazepine. Though available data did not reveal any safety concerns, if tolerability issues arise when co-administered, carbamazepine dose reduction should be considered [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.3 Phenytoin Because BRIVIACT can increase plasma concentrations of phenytoin, phenytoin levels should be monitored in patients when concomitant BRIVIACT is added to or discontinued from ongoing phenytoin therapy [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.4 Levetiracetam BRIVIACT provided no added therapeutic benefit to levetiracetam when the two drugs were co-administered [see Clinical Studies (14) ].
Every brivaracetam product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70/100 | Prescription | Injectable | Generic | $0 | View → | |
| 2 | 68/100 | Prescription | Injectable | Generic | $0 | View → |
What brivaracetam pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
Can you crush or split brivaracetam?
At least one brivaracetamproduct is labelled to be swallowed whole — crushing an extended-release tablet releases the whole day’s dose at once. Which applies depends on the form you were given.
What each brivaracetam label says about crushing, splitting and chewingHow long brivaracetam keeps
The date on a sealed pack is not the only one: some brivaracetam labels start a second clock once the product is opened or mixed, as short as 5 months.
Does brivaracetam expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsWhat people report to the FDA about brivaracetam
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 4,523 reports naming brivaracetam, and the FDA flagged 94% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- seizure1,938 reports
- fatigue239 reports
- somnolence232 reports
- product availability issue229 reports
- dizziness220 reports
- fall214 reports
- generalised tonic-clonic seizure174 reports
- multiple-drug resistance168 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean brivaracetam caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is brivaracetam?
Briviact (Brivaracetam) is a medication used to treat Seizures.
Can you take brivaracetam with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run brivaracetam against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is brivaracetam sold under?
We track 2 brivaracetam-containing products in the U.S.: Briviact and Brivaracetam. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does brivaracetam come in?
Across the brands we track, brivaracetam is currently marketed as injectable, solution and tablet, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic brivaracetam?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic brivaracetam product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Brivaracetam: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/brivaracetam
- MLA
- “Brivaracetam: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/brivaracetam.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for brivaracetam on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.