Ubrogepant, an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist approved for acute migraine treatment, is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with perimenstrual migraine, according to recent findings.

The information was presented in a poster presentation at the American Headache Society 2021 Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting.

“Menstruation is a significant risk factor for migraine without aura, and more than 50% of women with migraine report an association between migraine attacks and menstruation,” wrote Jelena M. Pavlovic, MD, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, and co-researchers.

Researchers aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of ubrogepant as a treatment for menstrually-related migraine attacks.

A total of 734 female participants in the modified intent-to-treat population, as well as 354 participants with a reported ≥1 menstrual cycle start date were enrolled in this phase 3, multicenter, 52-week, open-label, long-term safety extension trial.

Patients were randomized (1:1:1) to usual care, 50 mg of ubrogepant, or 100 mg of ubrogepant. Participants in the ubrogepant receiving arms received medication for up to 8 migraine attacks every four weeks.

A total of 1,329 perimenstrual migraine attacks, defined as a migraine starting between 2 days before or 3 days following menstrual bleeding, as well as 16,145 nonperimenstrual migraine attacks were treated in this study.

Participants using ubrogepant saw pain relief after two hours and returned to normal functioning after two hours, without experiencing nausea or sensitivity to light and sound.

The efficacy of ubrogepant did not significantly differ between the treatment of perimenstrual migraine and non-perimenstrual migraine across outcome measures, leading researchers to believe that ubrogepant is safe for the treatment of patients in this subgroup.

“The findings could have meaningful implications by supporting a simplified regimen with a single acute treatment for multiple types of migraine attacks,” Dr Pavlovic et al concluded. —Erin McGuinness

Pavlovic, Jelena M, Ailani, Jessica, et al. Ubrogenpant was safe and well tolerated in the acute treatment of perimenstrual migraine. Presented at: the American Headache Society 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting; June 3-6, 2021; Virtual. Presentation: P-129.