Eptinezumab speeds pain, symptom relief from migraine attack

(HealthDay)—Compared with placebo, treatment with intravenous eptinezumab after onset of a moderate-to-severe migraine attack shortens time to resolution of headache pain and the most bothersome symptom, according to a study published in the June 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In a phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, Paul K. Winner, D.O., from the Palm Beach Headache Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, and colleagues evaluated the efficacy of, and adverse events related to, initiating eptinezumab during a migraine attack. Eptinezumab (238 participants) or placebo (242 participants) was administered intravenously within one to six hours of onset of a qualifying moderate-to-severe migraine.

The researchers found that patients treated with eptinezumab achieved statistically significantly faster headache pain freedom (median, four hours versus nine hours with placebo; hazard ratio, 1.54) and absence of their most bothersome symptom (median, two hours versus three hours; hazard ratio, 1.75). At two hours after infusion, headache pain freedom was greater in the eptinezumab group (between-group difference, 11.6 percent; odds ratio, 2.27), as was absence of the most bothersome symptom (between-group difference, 19.6 percent; odds ratio, 2.25). Similar, significant results were seen at four hours after infusion. Additionally, significantly fewer eptinezumab-treated patients used rescue medication within 24 hours (between-group difference, −28.4 percent; odds ratio, 0.31). There were no treatment-emergent serious adverse events reported.

"Feasibility of administering eptinezumab treatment during a migraine attack and comparison with alternative treatments remain to be established," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Lundbeck, which manufactures eptinezumab and funded the study.

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