New Migraine Drug Can Start Working in Days, Experts Find

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Prime Highlights:

Atogepant, appears to begin acting quickly, and the frequency of migraine attacks may fall quickly.

It also increased quality of life and activity levels compared with a placebo.

Results were based on three studies patients had their migraines reduced by 37% to 61% over four weeks

Key Background:

A newly approved drug called atogepant can start reducing migraine symptoms within days, according to a study published recently in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Atogepant is an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist that has shown promise as a new treatment in the prevention of migraines.

According to Dr. Richard B. Lipton, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the research was led by hsi study, and it shows atogepant’s rapid onset of action in comparison to conventional migraine preventatives. Current treatments often take weeks or months to determine the best dosage, and side effects lead some patients to stop treatment too early. Atogepant showed immediate benefits, with patients reporting fewer migraines as early as the first day of use.

The analysis included information for three trials that lasted for a period of 12 weeks. The inclusion within the study encompassed both episodic and chronic cases of migraines. For example, the ADVANCE trial; that involved persons who suffer from an episodic form of migraine where incidences occurring at day one stood at 12% from those who are taking atogepant within their system whereas for the controls incidences happen at 25%. This is also reflected in the incidence of migraine attacks as seen in ELEVATE and PROGRESS studies. A meta-analysis of all studies showed that, on average, atogepant users had a significantly reduced chance of suffering from a migraine within the first four weeks.

Patients given atogepant demonstrated a reduction in migraine days per week, although this effect was only significantly greater for those with chronic migraines. Improvements in daily functioning and quality of life also compared favorably between the drug group and the placebo. While the demographic makeup of the participants of this study would limit the generalizability of its findings, being mostly female and white, migraine is the most common cause of disability, especially among young women; so, the development of a fast-acting and effective atogepant will be a significantly impactful treatment for patients and quality of life.