This drug may help prevent migraine headache

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In a new study, researchers found that taken every other day, drug rimegepant shows could be a preventive treatment of migraine.

The research was conducted by a team from Biohaven Pharmaceuticals in New Haven, Connecticut.

In the study, the team compared the efficacy of rimegepant with placebo for the preventive treatment of migraine.

Patients at 92 sites were randomly assigned to either oral rimegepant (348 patients) or placebo (347 patients) every other day for 12 weeks.

The researchers found that rimegepant was superior to placebo on the change in the number of migraine days per month during weeks 9 to 12, with a decrease in the number of migraine days per month of 4.3 days with rimegepant and 3.5 days with placebo.

More than one-third (36%) of patients who received rimegepant reported an adverse event, as did 36% of those who received placebo.

Discontinuation due to an adverse event occurred in seven participants receiving rimegepant and four receiving placebo.

The team says the short half-life of rimegepant relative to monoclonal antibodies is especially useful for patients who have a planned or unplanned pregnancy or adverse events that might require rapid cessation of drug exposure

Additional research could help to clarify the role of rimegepant for preventive and acute treatment of migraine.

One author of the study is Robert Croop, M.D.

The study is published in The Lancet.

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