Switching from Triptan to Ubrelvy for Migraine Analyzed in Real-World Study

According to real-world study results presented at the 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society (AHS), patients with migraine who switched from an oral triptan to Ubrelvy (ubrogepant; Allergan/AbbVie Chicago, IL) reported a significant increase in satisfaction with migraine pain relief, alleviation of their most bothersome symptoms, complete migraine relief at 2 hours, and preference for their new treatment compared with those who switched to a new triptan. Triptans are a first-line prescription treatment for the management of acute migraine attacks, but some patients experience an inadequate response to their initial triptan. This study assessed patient-reported outcomes in participants who switched to a new triptan vs those who switched to Ubrelvy, a calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist.

The prospective, longitudinal, real-world study included participants aged ≥18 years who experienced at least 6 headache days in the 90 days prior to screening and self-reported switching from an oral triptan to either a new oral triptan (n=100) or Ubrelvy (n=111) in the week prior to screening. Researchers monitored participants for 4 weeks and compared cohorts using the chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests for categorial outcome and the Wilcoxon rank sum test for continuous outcomes. Complete migraine relief was defined as a change in the level of pain that was meaningful to the participant.

At week 4, participants who switched to Ubrelvy reported significant increases in the following outcomes compared with participants who switched to a new triptan:

• Satisfaction in treating pain associated with migraine (69.4% vs 42.0%; P<.001).
• Alleviation of their most bothersome symptoms (69.4% vs 42.0%; P<.001).
• Complete migraine relief at two hours compared with their prior triptan (75.7% vs 59.0%; P=.01).
• Preference for their new treatment over their prior triptan (75.7% vs 63.0%; P=.046).