2 new drugs aim to prevent migraines; early tests done Two drugs given to people who suffer migraines reduced the frequency of their headaches in early trials, scientists said. The test results “may potentially represent a new era in preventive therapy for migraine,” Dr. Peter Goadsby, an author on studies of both drugs, said in a statement. One of the researchers called migraine headaches the third most common medical disorder in the world. Both drugs must undergo larger trials to confirm the results.
Both drugs are intended to prevent rather than treat migraine headaches, and the studies of them are the first to test monoclonal antibodies for migraine prevention, the scientists said. The drugs are directed against what’s called the calcitonin gene-related peptide, which had been thought important in migraines but had not previously been targeted with a drug. The researchers are to present their findings at the American Academy of Neurology’s 66th annual meeting, which begins Saturday in Philadelphia.
“The big deal is that there’s never been anything introduced to prevent migraine attacks that was based on a mechanism and a sole indication of migraine,” Goadsby said Wednesday by telephone. In the past, sufferers could try beta blockers, antidepressants or anticonvulsants, hoping they’d work for their headaches.