Licarbazepine is a voltage-gated sodium channel blocker with anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing effects that is related to oxcarbazepine.

It is an active metabolite of oxcarbazepine.

In addition, an enantiomer of licarbazepine, eslicarbazepine ((S)-(+)-licarbazepine), is an active metabolite of eslicarbazepine acetate.

Oxcarbazepine and eslicarbazepine acetate are inactive on their own, and behave instead as prodrugs to licarbazepine and eslicarbazepine, respectively, to produce their therapeutic effects.