FDA Approves Preventive Migraine Treatment

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Aimovig (erenumab-aooe), a once-monthly preventive treatment for adults with migraine.

Aimovig, which is administered by self-injection, is the first FDA-approved preventive migraine treatment from a new class of drugs that block the activity of calcitonin gene-related peptide, which is involved in migraine attacks.

The approval was granted following the success of 3 clinical trials. The first trial (n = 955) demonstrated that Aimovig use was associated with 1 to 2 fewer migraine days per month compared with placebo among participants with episodic migraine.

In the second trial (n = 577), researchers found that Aimovig-treated participants had, on average, 1 fewer monthly migraine day compared with those who received placebo.

Findings from the third trial (n = 667) showed that, among participants with a history of chronic migraine, those who received Aimovig had, on average, 2.5 fewer migraine days per month than those who received placebo.

The most commonly reported side effects of Aimovig among trial participants were injection site reactions and constipation.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

FDA approves novel preventive treatment for migraine [press release]. US Food and Drug Administration. May 17, 2018. https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm608120.htm?utm_campaign=05172018_PR_FDA approves migraine prevention treatment&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua Accessed on May 18, 2018.