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New hope for migraine sufferers: New drug shows promising results
Migraine is a common and severe disease that affects 15% of the general population.
“Migraine, especially in patients with chronic migraine or high-frequency episodic migraine, causes substantial disability in nearly all aspects of life, including employment, household work, and social activities. The Global Burden of Disease Study ranks migraine as the eighth most common cause of years lived with disability.” says Dr. Julio Pascual, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Spain
Migraine is divided into three types: episodic migraine (<15 headache-days per month), high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM) (8-14 headache-days per month) and chronic migraine (≥15 headache-days per month).
New migraine drug
The new drug is called TEV-48125. It is a monoclonal anti-CGRP antibody. That means it is a modified antibody against a certain structure in the human body called Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). CGRP is known to play an integral role in the pathophysiology of migraine.
CGRP is responsible for the dilation of blood vessels in the brain, inflammation of nerves, and transmitting pain signals for the blood vessels in the brain to the nervous system.
Therefore CGRP is a target for many new preventive migraine drugs.
New study
The study was published in The Lancet. It was a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b study. The 297 participants reported headache information daily using an electronic diary. The study was funded by Teva Pharmaceuticals.
Results
“TEV-48125, at doses of 225 mg and 675 mg given once every 28 days for 12 weeks, was safe, well tolerated, and effective as a preventive treatment of high-frequency episodic migraine…” says the study’s author.
More info
here you can find more information about migraine
