Aimovig Safe, Effective at Reducing Monthly Migraine Days

A recent study presented at the 2018 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting found that Aimovig (erenumab; Novartis/Amgen) significantly reduced monthly migraine days among patients who failed two to four prior preventive migraine treatments. 

The researchers explained that Aimovig, if approved, could improve patient adherence due to its effectiveness and comparatively improved safety profile. 

“[Aimovig] is a fully human monoclonal antibody that inhibits the canonical CGRP receptor,” Peter Goadsby, MD, PhD, neurologist and headache specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues wrote. “Clinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of [Aimovig] in patients with episodic and chronic migraine. Current oral preventive therapies are associated with low adherence rates due to the lack of efficacy and/or poor tolerability. It is therefore important to assess the safety and efficacy of [Aimovig] in patients who have failed multiple therapies.”

The researchers used data from the LIBERTY clinical trials, a 12-week study of 246 patients with migraines who had previously failed two to four preventive treatments. Half of the study cohort received 140 mg of Aimovig and half received placebo. The researchers measured the number of patients reporting 50% fewer migraine monthly days, with safety and tolerability measured as secondary endpoints. 

Study results showed that patients in the Aimovig group had fewer montly migraine days and fewer monthly acute migraine-specific medication days compared with the placebo group. Additionally, the Aimovig group had a higher proportion of patients who reduced montly migraine days by more than 50%. The reserachers also noted that safety was comparable between both groups. 

“These results confirm the efficacy and safety of [Aimovig] in this first dedicated study of a difficult to treat population with 2 to 4 prior preventive migraine treatment failures,” Dr Goadsby and colleagues concluded. 

Aimovig is a monthly oral therapy that the FDA is expected to approve in May 2018.

—David Costil