BOSTON—A new class of drugs for the prevention of chronic and episodic migraine demonstrated
promising results in recent phase II and phase III trials. Data for four humanized calcitonin gene–related
peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibodies—
eptinezumab, erenumab, fremanezumab, and galcanezumab—
were presented at the 59th Annual Scientific Meeting
of the American Headache Society. Previous research
has long implicated CGRP (which is elevated in jugular vein blood during acute migraine and cluster
headaches) in disease pathophysiology. Recent advances in molecular neuroscience have helped shed
further light on the pathogenic mechanisms and possible targets for treatment.
Eptinezumab
In a phase II study, a single infusion of eptinezumab
(which Alder BioPharmaceuticals is developing under
the name ALD403) reduced the number of migraine
days per month, as well as the number of migraines classified as severe, in patients with chronic migraine. Of the
four drugs presented at the meeting, eptinezumab was
the only one to have an IV mode of delivery.
“We used International Classification of Headache
Disorders 3 criteria to define chronic migraine, which
is at least 15 headache days per month, of which eight
must be migraine-like,” said Jeffrey T. L. Smith, MD,
Senior Vice President of Translational Medicine at
Alder BioPharmaceuticals in Bothell, Washington.
CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies May
Be Beneficial for Migraine Prevention
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