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A new medication for migraine is Ehrenumab
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
Scientists of the Royal School of London and the University of California presented a new medication that effectively eliminates the main symptoms of migraine. According to doctors, this medication should be suitable for people who can not eliminate pain with the help of conventional drugs.
Migraine is an ambiguous and common condition. In the United States alone, more than 37 million people complain of frequent headaches. 4 million Americans are officially diagnosed with chronic migraine, with a frequency of seizures more often 10-14 episodes monthly. Typically, to eliminate severe pain, doctors prescribe ibuprofen-based tablets, or drugs with more pronounced effects - for example, sumatriptan and Ergotamine.
With migraine, there is an expansion of cerebral vessels. This condition is accompanied not only by pain in the head, but also by nausea, dizziness. Standard antimigrenous drugs cause vasoconstriction, resulting in pain losing its intensity. But for many patients, the listed medicines do not become salvage. Therefore, the scientists set out to create a new drug that can reliably block pain signals.
The new just developed medication was called Ehrenumab. It is a monoclonal antibody capable of blocking calcitonin-gene-bound peptides. Such peptides are molecular structures that transmit pain signals that appear during a migraine attack.
The scientists conducted a control clinical study, which attracted 246 participants. In selected volunteers, migraine attacks were repeated at a frequency of 4-14 monthly. One group of patients was characterized by an even greater frequency of seizures - at least fifteen per month. All participants were also united by the fact that no standard medication was already helping them.
All participants were offered to take a new drug Ehrenumab in a dose of 140 mg, or "placebo." Duration of treatment was 3 months. As a result, it was found that in every third patient the frequency of seizures decreased by more than 50%. In addition, there were no significant side effects associated with taking a new drug.
Medical specialists expressed the hope that the information obtained during the study will allow obtaining approval from a special monitoring organization of the FDA (Office of Sanitary Supervision over the Quality of Food and Drugs). If such approval is received, the new drug will be released to the market from this year. Since Ehrenumab demonstrated high efficacy, it may well be the best alternative for patients with persistent and frequent manifestations of migraine.
The findings of the experts are published on the pages of the American Academy of Neurology (https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1641).
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