Between half and three-quarters of adults aged 18-65 worldwide have had a headache in the past year, and of these more than 10% have reported migraine, after the figures of the World Health Organization. In addition to being painful, migraines handicap the professional and social life of the patient.
For now, only one treatment preventative is capable of reducing pain and the frequency of seizures. But these are drugs intended to treat other diseases, such as antihypertensives, antidepressants or antiepileptics, and whose effects have been observed on migraine. Researchers are therefore working hard to find specific, effective and better adapted treatments. From medications which caught the attention of specialists at the congress of the American Academy of Neurology, from April 26 to May 3 in the United States, are ALD403 from Alder Biopharmaceuticals and LY2951742 from Lilly.
An excellent response rate
Capable of blocking the pain messenger gene in the event of an attack, these two treatments seem to have the same effects as those already on the market, but with a more interesting ease of use.
These results are “at least as good as those obtained with topiramate, one of the most prescribed preventive treatments, and clinically relevant with a real expected benefit for patients. In addition, the response rates to these drugs are excellent. During follow-up, 70% to 77% of patients experienced a halving of the number of migraine days per month, and 31% to 41% a complete remission”, explains doctor David Dodick, co-author of the work, quoted by the website of Figaro.
Phase III trials, conducted on a larger public in the years to come, should provide more information on these drugs. The only problem that darkens the picture is the problem of price: laboratories could try to sell each injection for a few hundred euros, which makes access to treatment more difficult.
