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Fremanezumab in the prevention of migraine: a profile of its use

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Abstract

Fremanezumab (fremanezumab-vfrm; Ajovy®), a monoclonal antibody that targets calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), is indicated for the prevention of migraine in adults in the EU and USA. Subcutaneous fremanezumab 225 mg once monthly or 675 mg once every 3 months was effective in reducing monthly migraine days or headache days in patients with episodic or chronic migraine in pivotal, 12-week clinical trials. Both regimens also reduce acute headache medication use and headache-related disability. Improvements were maintained through ≤ 52 weeks of additional treatment in a longer-term extension study. In a trial in treatment-resistant migraine, both fremanezumab regimens reduced monthly migraine days in patients who had failed 2–4 classes of preventive medications. Fremanezumab is generally well tolerated, with most adverse events (AEs) being injection site reactions of mild or moderate severity.

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Acknowledgements

The manuscript was reviewed by: J. R. Couch, Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; H.-C. Diener, Faculty of Medicine, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen Germany Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Essen, Germany; A. Singh, Department of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; H. Yuan, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA. During the peer review process, Teva Pharmaceuticals, the marketing-authorization holder of fremanezumab, was also offered an opportunity to provide a scientific accuracy review of their data. Changes resulting from comments received were made on the basis of scientific and editorial merit.

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    Yvette N. Lamb

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Y. N. Lamb is a salaried employee of Adis International Ltd./Springer Nature, is responsible for the article content and declares no conflicts of interest.

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Enhanced material for this Adis Drug Q&A can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9962018.

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Lamb, Y.N. Fremanezumab in the prevention of migraine: a profile of its use. Drugs Ther Perspect 35, 592–600 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40267-019-00680-2

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