New drugs for migraine as effective as cheaper painkillers
A new global study has found that new expensive migraine drugs are no more effective than traditional painkillers. In fact, they are less effective than older treatments such as triptans.
Expensive, modern migraine drugs are no more effective than traditional painkillers, but even less effective than older treatments called triptans, a global study suggests.
This new meta-analysis, published in the BMJ, highlights that new drugs are not necessarily better than established treatments.
According to the World Health Organization, migraine is a headache that affects at least one in seven adults worldwide. It is three times more common in women than men.
Historically, inexpensive painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen, as well as triptans (which affect blood circulation in the brain), have been recommended for the treatment of migraines.
Recently, a new class of migraine medications known as gepants has come to the market. These include rimegepant, sold by Pfizer under the brand name Vidura, and ubrogepant, sold by AbbVie under the brand name Ubrelvi.
According to the study, these drugs have been touted as “huge breakthroughs” because pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in their development. For example, Pfizer acquired Biohaven, the maker of rimegepant, for more than $10 billion in 2022.
However, these drugs have mostly been tested against a placebo.
The researchers analysed 137 previous trials that studied 17 different migraine treatments, involving almost 90,000 participants. The results showed that newer, more expensive drugs, such as rimegepant, ubrogepant and lasmiditan (which can cause drowsiness), were only as effective as basic painkillers such as paracetamol and anti-inflammatory drugs.
In contrast, triptans — older migraine drugs such as eletriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan — performed best.
However, the study notes that triptans are “underutilized widely.”
The researchers recommended that doctors give preference to triptans for treating migraines. For patients with cardiac problems who cannot take triptans, they suggested using traditional painkillers such as aspirin or ibuprofen.
The newer Gepantes drugs should only be considered as a third option.
Study co-author Andrea Cipriani from the University of Oxford stressed the importance of effective treatment for migraines.
“It is the leading cause of disability in young women and is associated with high individual health care and societal costs,” she told news agency AFP.