MONDAY, Dec. 18, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Monthly subcutaneous injections of galcanezumab are efficacious in prevention of episodic migraine headaches, according to a study published online Dec. 18 in JAMA Neurology.
Vladimir Skljarevski, M.D., from Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, and colleagues randomly assigned 410 patients with episodic migraine headaches to receive placebo or galcanezumab (5, 50, 120, or 300 mg) over a three-month treatment period.
The enrolled patients experienced four to 14 migraine headache days per month. The researchers found that, compared to placebo, galcanezumab (120 mg) significantly reduced migraine headache days (99.6 percent posterior probability, −4.8 days). Five percent or more of patients reported the following adverse events more frequently than placebo participants: injection-site pain, upper respiratory tract infection, nasopharyngitis, dysmenorrhea, and nausea.
"Monthly subcutaneous injections of galcanezumab, both 120 mg and 300 mg, demonstrated efficacy (repeated-measures analysis) for the preventive treatment of migraine and support further development in larger phase 3 studies," the authors write. "All dosages were safe and well tolerated for the preventive treatment of episodic migraine."
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, which manufacturers galcanezumab and funded the study.
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