New Migraine Prevention Drugs Show Promise
A new class of drugs may offer novel treatment options for patients suffering with high-frequency episodic migraine and chronic migraine, according to promising data presented last week at the 57th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society in Washington, D.C.
These therapeutic agents appear to reduce elevated levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)—a key driver of migraine pain.
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“This new class of treatments—monoclonal antibodies to CGRP—offer the first effective, migraine-specific, preventive treatment ever developed,” says Peter J. Goadsby, MD, PhD, chair of the meeting’s scientific program and Chief of the University of California San Francisco Headache Center. “They work, and they are very well tolerated.”
Four pharmaceutical companies have reported positive results in human trials of anti-CGRP therapies. A number of scholarly papers on CGRP and on the trials were presented at the meeting:
• Teva unveiled new phase IIb trial data, reporting for the first time that its drug—as a preventive treatment for high-frequency episodic migraine—significantly reduced the number of headache hours after 1 week, with more than half of patients in each arm experiencing a reduction of 50% or more in headache frequency.
• Eli Lilly presented, for the first time, phase II data that establishes the efficacy of their treatment against placebo in preventing episodic migraine with monthly administration across a range of doses.
• Phase II data for Amgen’s anti-CGRP product showed that the drug reduced the number of migraine days by 50% in about half of the treated patients after 12 weeks.
• Alder Pharmaceutical has also published positive phase II data about the anti-CGRP drug it has in development but did not present further data at the meeting.
“The new medicines offer an entirely new approach to treatment that is well tolerated. Having such a medicine will greatly improve care for migraine patients,” Goadsby says. “The mechanism of action is consistent with an effect across a very broad range of migraine patients.”
Goadsby called this a “truly landmark development,” but says it will likely be a few years before this class of drugs would be available for widespread use. Now that phase II studies are complete, the treatments will progress to phase III studies and, if those results are positive, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval.
—Colleen Mullarkey
Reference
American Headache Society. (17 June 2015). Migraine community sees promise in new class of drugs; optimistic for relief for millions of sufferers. Available at: www.americanheadachesociety.org/migraine_community_sees_promise_in_new_class_of_drugs_optimistic_for_relief_for_millions_of_sufferers.