Effects of fremanezumab on the use of acute headache medication and associated symptoms of migraine in patients with episodic migraine

Cephalalgia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 470-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Lewis Brandes ◽  
David Kudrow ◽  
Paul P Yeung ◽  
Fumihiko Sakai ◽  
Ernesto Aycardi ◽  
...  

Background Fremanezumab, a fully humanized monoclonal antibody targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide, has demonstrated efficacy for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. Objective To evaluate the effect of fremanezumab treatment on acute headache medication use and migraine-associated symptoms in patients with episodic migraine. Methods In the Phase 3 HALO trial, patients with episodic migraine were randomized to receive subcutaneous fremanezumab monthly (225 mg at baseline, weeks 4 and 8), fremanezumab quarterly (675 mg at baseline, placebo at weeks 4 and 8), or placebo over a 12-week period. The secondary endpoint was change from baseline in the monthly number of days with use of any acute headache mediation or migraine-specific acute headache medication; exploratory endpoints were change from baseline in the monthly number of days with nausea or vomiting, photophobia, or phonophobia. Results Of 875 patients randomized, 865 were included in the analysis (monthly, n = 287; quarterly, n = 288; placebo, n = 290). Baseline mean ± standard deviation days with: Any acute headache medication use (monthly: 7.7 ± 3.4; quarterly: 7.8 ± 3.7; placebo: 7.7 ± 3.6), migraine-specific acute headache medication use (6.1 ± 3.1; 6.6 ± 3.1; 7.1 ± 3.0), nausea or vomiting (4.5 ± 3.6; 4.9 ± 3.7; 4.5 ± 3.3) and photophobia and phonophobia (5.5 ± 4.1; 6.3 ± 4.1; 6.0 ± 3.9) were similar among treatment arms. Fremanezumab reduced the number of days of acute headache medication use ([least-squares mean change vs. placebo] monthly: −1.4 [95% confidence interval: −1.84, −0.89], p < 0.001; quarterly: −1.3 [−1.76, −0.82], p < 0.001) and migraine-specific acute headache medication use (monthly: −2.2 [−2.80, −1.56], p < 0.001; quarterly: −2.2 [−2.81, −1.58], p < 0.001) compared with placebo. Fremanezumab also reduced nausea or vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia compared with placebo. Conclusions Fremanezumab reduced the need for acute headache medications, including migraine-specific medications, while treating migraine-associated symptoms in patients with episodic migraine. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02629861

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (18) ◽  
pp. e2487-e2499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Goadsby ◽  
Stephen D. Silberstein ◽  
Paul P. Yeung ◽  
Joshua M. Cohen ◽  
Xiaoping Ning ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo assess the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of fremanezumab, a fully humanized monoclonal antibody approved for the preventive treatment of migraine.MethodsA 52-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study evaluated fremanezumab monthly or quarterly in adults with chronic migraine (CM) or episodic migraine (EM). Safety and tolerability were assessed by adverse event (AE) monitoring (performed by the investigators), systematic local injection-site assessments (immediately and 1 hour after injection), laboratory/vitals assessments, and immunogenicity testing. Prespecified exploratory evaluations included change from baseline in the monthly number of migraine days, headache days of at least moderate severity, and days with any acute headache medication use. Change from baseline in headache-related disability (6-item Headache Impact Test scores) was also measured.ResultsOf 1,890 patients enrolled, 551 and 559 patients with CM received quarterly and monthly dosing; 394 and 386 patients with EM received quarterly or monthly, respectively. The most commonly reported AEs were injection-site reactions (induration 33%, pain 31%, and erythema 26%). Fremanezumab reduced monthly migraine days (CM quarterly −7.2 days, CM monthly −8.0 days, EM quarterly −5.2 days, EM monthly −5.1 days) and headache days of at least moderate severity (CM quarterly −6.4 days, CM monthly −6.8 days, EM quarterly −4.4, EM monthly −4.2 days) from baseline to 12 months. Reductions in any acute headache medication use and headache-related disability were also maintained over 12 months.ConclusionsFremanezumab quarterly and fremanezumab monthly were well tolerated and demonstrated sustained improvements in monthly migraine days, headache days, and headache-related disability for up to 12 months in patients with migraine.ClinicalTrials.govNCT02638103.Classification of evidenceThis study provides Class IV evidence that long-term fremanezumab treatment is safe, well tolerated, and effective at sustaining reductions in monthly migraine and headache days.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
Deborah I. Friedman ◽  
Joshua M. Cohen

Fremanezumab is a fully humanized monoclonal antibody (IgG2Δa) that targets calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a key neuropeptide involved in the pathophysiology of migraine. Fremanezumab is approved for quarterly and monthly subcutaneous dosing for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. The phase 3 clinical development program for fremanezumab aimed to evaluate the efficacy of this preventive treatment across different patient populations, including those with difficult-to-treat migraine. Two pivotal 12-week, phase 3, placebo-controlled studies investigated quarterly and monthly dosing of fremanezumab in participants with chronic migraine (HALO CM) and episodic migraine (HALO EM). The efficacy of fremanezumab was further explored in individuals with difficult-to-treat chronic or episodic migraine in the 12-week FOCUS study, which enrolled participants who had previously experienced an inadequate response to 2–4 pharmacological classes of migraine preventive medications. The long-term efficacy of fremanezumab was assessed in a 12-month long-term study (HALO LTS), which enrolled participants completing the 12-week HALO studies and new participants. Across these studies, treatment with fremanezumab dosed quarterly or monthly provided significant reductions in the frequency of migraine days, headache days of at least moderate severity, and migraine- and headache-related disability compared with placebo. Sustained improvements were seen with long-term fremanezumab treatment. Subgroup analyses of participants with difficult-to-treat migraine (those with comorbid depression, overuse of acute headache medications, and concomitant use of other migraine preventive medications) demonstrated the effectiveness of quarterly or monthly fremanezumab in these populations. Ongoing studies are further exploring the potential benefits of fremanezumab in difficult-to-treat migraine and other headache and pain disorders.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Messoud Ashina ◽  
Faisal Mohammad Amin ◽  
Pinar Kokturk ◽  
Joshua M Cohen ◽  
Martijn Konings ◽  
...  

Fremanezumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody (IgG2Δa) that selectively targets calcitonin gene-related peptide and is approved in Europe for migraine prevention in adults with ≥4 migraine days/month. The Pan-European Real Life (PEARL) study is a 24-month, prospective, observational study of fremanezumab in chronic or episodic migraine. End points include proportion of patients with ≥50% reduction in monthly migraine days during 6 months of treatment (primary); changes in monthly migraine days, disability scores and acute headache medication use; adherence and persistence; and effectiveness in patients switching from another calcitonin gene-related peptide pathway-targeting monoclonal antibody. PEARL is being conducted in approximately 100 centers in 11 European countries (estimated n = 1100). PEARL will generate important real-world data on effectiveness of fremanezumab and treatment patterns in patients with chronic migraine or episodic migraine.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Deng ◽  
Gai-gai Li ◽  
Hao Nie ◽  
Yang-yang Feng ◽  
Guang-yu Guo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Migraine is one of the most common neurological disorders that leads to disabilities. However, the conventional drug therapy for migraine is unsatisfactory. Therefore, this meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of calcitonin-gene-related peptide binding monoclonal antibody (CGRP mAb) for the preventive treatment of episodic migraine, and provide high-quality clinical evidence for migraine therapy. Methods: A systematic electronic database search was conducted to identify the potentially relevant studies. Two independent authors performed data extraction and quality appraisal. Mean difference (MD) and risk ratio (RR) were pooled for continuous and dichotomous data, respectively. The significance levels, weighted effect sizes and homogeneity of variance were calculated. Results: Eleven high-quality randomized control trials that collectively included 4402 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared to placebo group, CGRP mAb therapy resulted in a reduction of monthly migraine days [weighted mean difference (WMD) = −1.44, 95% CI = (−1.68,−1.19)] and acute migraine-specific medication days [WMD = −1.28, 95% CI = (−1.66,−0.90)], with an improvement in 50% responder rate [RR = 1.51, 95% CI =(1.37,1.66)]. In addition, the adverse events (AEs) and treatment withdrawal rates due to AEs were not significantly different between CGRP mAb and placebo groups. Similar efficacy and safety results were obtained for erenumab, fremanezumab, and galcanezumab in subgroup analysis. Conclusions: The current body of evidence reveals that CGRP mAb is an effective and safe preventive treatment for episodic migraine. Keywords: calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibody, episodic migraine, efficacy, safety, meta-analysis


Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (13) ◽  
pp. e1365-e1377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Lipton ◽  
Peter J. Goadsby ◽  
Jeff Smith ◽  
Barbara A. Schaeffler ◽  
David M. Biondi ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of eptinezumab, a humanized anti–calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibody, in the preventive treatment of chronic migraine (CM).MethodsThe Prevention of Migraine via Intravenous ALD403 Safety and Efficacy–2 (PROMISE-2) study was a phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Adults with CM were randomly assigned to receive IV eptinezumab 100 mg, eptinezumab 300 mg, or placebo administered on day 0 and week 12. The primary endpoint was change from baseline in mean monthly migraine days (MMDs) over weeks 1 to 12.ResultsAmong treated participants (n = 1,072), baseline mean number of MMDs was ≈16.1 across groups. Treatment with eptinezumab 100 and 300 mg was associated with significant reductions in MMDs across weeks 1 to 12 compared with placebo (placebo −5.6, 100 mg −7.7, p < 0.0001 vs placebo; 300 mg −8.2, p < 0.0001 vs placebo). Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were reported by 43.5% (100 mg), 52.0% (300 mg), and 46.7% (placebo) of patients. Nasopharyngitis was the only TEAE reported for >2% of eptinezumab-treated patients at an incidence of >2% over placebo; it occurred in the 300 mg eptinezumab arm (eptinezumab 9.4%, placebo 6.0%).ConclusionIn patients with CM, eptinezumab 100 and 300 mg was associated with a significant reduction in MMDs from the day after IV administration through week 12, was well tolerated, and demonstrated an acceptable safety profile.Classification of evidenceThis study provides Class I evidence that for patients with CM, a single dose of eptinezumab reduces MMDs over 12 weeks of treatment.ClinicalTrials.gov identifierNCT02974153.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay M Frerichs ◽  
Deborah I Friedman

Migraine is a common and disabling disorder affecting approximately 1.02 billion people worldwide. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has been identified as playing an important role in the pathophysiology of migraine and several migraine-specific therapies targeting the CGRP ligand or its receptor have been approved since 2018 for the acute and preventive treatment of migraine. This review focuses on the pharmacology, clinical efficacy and safety/tolerability of galcanezumab, an anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody approved for the prevention of migraine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Messoud Ashina ◽  
Joshua M. Cohen ◽  
Maja Galic ◽  
Verena Ramirez Campos ◽  
Steve Barash ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Fremanezumab, a fully humanized monoclonal antibody (IgG2Δa) selectively targets the calcitonin gene-related peptide and has proven efficacy for the preventive treatment of migraine. In this study, we evaluated the long-term efficacy, safety, and tolerability of monthly and quarterly fremanezumab. Methods Episodic migraine and chronic migraine patients completing the 12-week double-blind period of the FOCUS trial entered the 12-week open-label extension and received 3 monthly doses of fremanezumab (225 mg). Changes from baseline in monthly migraine days, monthly headache days of at least moderate severity, days of acute headache medication use, days with photophobia/phonophobia, days with nausea or vomiting, disability scores, and proportion of patients achieving a ≥50% or  ≥75% reduction in monthly migraine days were evaluated. Results Of the 807 patients who completed the 12-week double-blind treatment period and entered the open-label extension, 772 patients completed the study. In the placebo, quarterly fremanezumab, and monthly fremanezumab dosing regimens, respectively, patients had fewer average monthly migraine days (mean [standard deviation] change from baseline: − 4.7 [5.4]; − 5.1 [4.7]; − 5.5 [5.0]), monthly headache days of at least moderate severity (− 4.5 [5.0]; − 4.8 [4.5]; − 5.2 [4.9]), days per month of acute headache medication use (− 4.3 [5.2]; − 4.9 [4.6]; − 4.8 [4.9]), days with photophobia/phonophobia (− 3.1 [5.3]; − 3.4 [5.3]; − 4.0 [5.2]), and days with nausea or vomiting (− 2.3 [4.6]; − 3.1 [4.5]; − 3.0 [4.4]). During the 12-week open-label extension, 38%, 45%, and 46% of patients, respectively, achieved a ≥50% reduction and 16%, 15%, and 20%, respectively, achieved a ≥75% reduction in monthly migraine days. Disability scores were substantially improved in all 3 treatment groups. There were low rates of adverse events leading to discontinuation (<1%). Conclusion Fremanezumab demonstrated sustained efficacy up to 6 months and was well tolerated in patients with episodic migraine or chronic migraine and documented inadequate response to multiple migraine preventive medication classes. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03308968 (FOCUS).


2019 ◽  
Vol 90 (e7) ◽  
pp. A31.1-A31
Author(s):  
Lauren Giles ◽  
Uwe Reuter ◽  
Peter Goadsby ◽  
Michel Lanteri-Minet ◽  
Peggy Hours-Zesiger ◽  
...  

IntroductionTo assess efficacy of erenumab in the first three months of the open-label extension phase (OLEP; 13–24 weeks) of the LIBERTY study.MethodsIn the double-blind treatment phase (DBTP), 246 patients were randomized to placebo and erenumab 140 mg for 12 weeks, following which, patients completing that phase (N=240) were enrolled in OLEP, to receive monthly erenumab 140 mg. Outcomes measured monthly throughout to week 24 were achievement of at least 50%/75%/100% reduction in monthly migraine days (MMD), change from DBTP baseline in MMD, monthly acute migraine-specific medication days (MSMD), Headache Impact Test (HIT-6TM) total score, everyday activities (EA) and physical impairment (PI) as measured by the Migraine Physical Function Impact Diary (MPFID).ResultsOverall, 228/240(95.0%) patients completed the 24 week visit of the OLEP. In the overall population at Week 24, 39.2%, 15.9% and 7.0% patients achieved ≥50%/≥75%/100% reduction in MMD. The mean (standard deviation) change from DBTP baseline in MMD was −2.7(4.4) and −1.4(3.0) in MSMD; and −7.6(8.0), −2.5(9.2) and −4.0(9.0) in HIT-6TM, MPFID-PI and MPFID-EA scores respectively. Patients with continuous use of erenumab showed sustained efficacy in all outcomes assessed. Patients who switched from placebo to erenumab in the OLEP showed improvement from the first measurement at Week 16 on all outcomes assessed.ConclusionsEfficacy of erenumab was sustained throughout 24 weeks in a hard to treat patient population with multiple prior preventive treatment failures. Overall, efficacy data over 24 weeks (assessed over weeks 13–16,17–20 and 21–24) was generally in line with prior erenumab trials.


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