LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An experimental migraine drug under
review by U.S. regulators works better than industry leader
Imitrex, according to research presented on Wednesday.
The drug, called Trexima, was developed by Pozen Inc. and
will be produced and sold by GlaxoSmithKline Plc, which
currently markets Imitrex, a migraine drug with sales of about
$1.2 billion last year.
Two trials comparing Trexima, which combines Imitrex with
the anti-inflammatory drug naproxen, showed that 57 percent to
65 percent of patients treated with the drug reported pain
relief after two hours, compared with 50-55 percent of patients
treated with Imitrex alone and 28-29 percent of patients given
placebo.
After four hours, 72-78 percent of Trexima patients
reported pain relief, compared with 61-66 percent for the
Imitrex group and 37 percent of patients on placebo.
“We now have a better understanding of how a migraine
develops in the brain … A therapy that both inhibits
inflammation and treats pain may address multiple mechanisms of
migraine,” Dr. Stephen Silberstein, professor of neurology at
Thomas Jefferson University, said in a statement.
Side effects of Trexima included dizziness, nausea and
tingling.
Results from the two trials involving more than 2,800
patients were presented at a San Diego meeting of the American
Academy of Neurology.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to
decided in June whether to approve sales of Trexima.
Comments