Preventive Migraine Therapy Eptinezumab Provides Early Relief from Symptoms  During Acute Attack

Clinical trial data from the RELIEF study (NCT04152083) of eptinezumab (Vyepti; Lundbeck, Deerfield, IL) for acute treatment of migraine showed early benefit for time to relief from headache pain and the absence of most bothersome symptoms (MBS). These results have been published in JAMA. 

Freedom from headache pain occurred at a median 4 hours for those treated with eptinezumab compared with 9 hours for those who received placebo (hazard ratio [HR]=1.54, P<.001). Freedom from preidentified MBS occurred at a median 2 hours with epitinezumab vs 3 hours with placebo (HR=1.75, P<.001). At 2 hours after infusion initiation, freedom from headache pain was reported by 23.5% of those who received eptinezumab vs 12.0% with placebo (P<.001). Absence of MBS was reported by 55.5% patients who received the therapy and 35.8% who received placebo (P<.001).  

“Historically, patients with migraine have had to wait several weeks for the effect of their preventive medications to manifest,” says Paul Winner, DO, director, Palm Beach Headache Center. “The RELIEF data in JAMA validates that treatment with Vyepti in the midst of a migraine attack may mitigate the duration and MBS associated with the current attack, while still providing the therapeutic benefit of preventing future attacks. Furthermore, an active migraine would not be an obstacle for initiating preventive treatment with Vyepti.” 
 
 Study participants (n=480) reported experiencing 4 to 15 migraine days per month and were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive a single 100 mg dose of eptinezumab or placebo via a 30-minute intravenous infusion within 1 to 6 hours of onset of a moderate-to-severe migraine attack.