A drug already on the market for $35 could help the millions of Americans who currently suffer from migraines stop the attack before it starts.
Ubrogepant – sold under the brand name Ubrelvy – helped 65 percent of participants reduce or stop the debilitating pain associated with migraines, allowing them to go about their day as usual.
Previous studies had shown that the drug can help people who are already sick from a seizure, but this study was the first to conclude that the drug can work before the pain starts.
According to the American Migraine Association, approximately 39 million Americans suffer from migraines
It is taken in tablet form of 50 or 100 mg. The effect sets in after about one and a half hours.
The study’s authors say this could be a game-changer for the approximately 39 million Americans who suffer from migraines.
“Migraine is one of the most common diseases in the world, and yet so many people suffering from this disease receive no treatment or report being dissatisfied with their treatment,” said study author Dr. Richard Lipton of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
“Better treatment at the first signs of migraine, even before the headache starts, may be the key to better outcomes. Our results are encouraging and suggest that ubrogepant can help people with migraine to function normally and cope with their daily lives,” he said.
When a migraine starts, most people cannot move, look at the light, or hear loud noises without experiencing severe pain, nausea, or vomiting.
The new drug works by mimicking a molecule in the brain that triggers migraine pain. In the body, these molecules attach themselves to pain receptors and prevent them from being activated by physical signals that trigger migraines.
It was approved by the FDA in December 2019 to treat migraines – patients are advised to take it as soon as they feel the pain of a migraine.
The drug is not approved in the UK, but the Scottish Medicines Consortium allows its use in patients for whom no other treatment is available.
These initial studies showed that 85 percent of patients who took the drug experienced relief from migraine pain within four hours.
New findings suggest that it would be possible to take it even earlier than previously thought and still be effective.
Without insurance, the cost is about $1,000 for 10 tablets—that should last about a month—but with insurance or an offer from AbbVie, the drug’s maker, it can drop to as little as $0.
According to the drug listing on Amazon, the average insurance price is $35.
The new study, published in the journal Neurology, examined whether the drug worked even if patients took it before they even felt pain.
The crucial thing was that the 518 participants had symptoms that told them when a migraine was imminent – which is not the case for all migraine sufferers.
They found that 65 percent of people taking the drug reported being able to lead normal lives after taking Ubrelvy, a sign that the drug had stopped their migraines, compared with 48 percent of people taking the placebo.
This means they had less pain, or at least were able to manage the pain and do things they normally couldn’t do during a migraine – like working or walking around.
On average, those who took the drug were 73 percent more likely to go through their day without pain than those who did not take it.
Side effects included drowsiness, nausea and fatigue.
“Based on our findings, treatment with ubrogepant may enable migraine patients who notice early warning signs before a migraine occurs to rapidly treat migraine attacks in the early stages and continue their daily lives with little discomfort and disruption,” said Dr. Lipton.
The doctor added: “This could lead to an improved quality of life for migraine sufferers.”
The drug is a so-called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist. CGRP is a protein that plays a key role in migraines: it activates the parts of the body that cause migraine pain.
Ubrelvy and similar drugs mimic this protein: they take the place that the pain-causing molecules would normally occupy, thus stopping migraine symptoms.
Ubrelvy was approved in 2019 to treat migraines.
Similar drugs include Nurtec, Ajovy, Emgality and Aimovig – all from competing pharmaceutical companies and listed at similar prices to Ubrelvy.
However, other migraine medications may be just as effective and have been on the market for some time.
These include migraine medications that the patient takes daily to prevent migraine attacks from occurring in the first place – the so-called oral migraine preventive medications (OMPM).
However, OMPMs are sometimes associated with unpleasant side effects, such as dizziness, muscle cramps, vomiting and increased heart rate, so they may not be suitable for everyone.
Only 14 percent of more than 8,700 migraine sufferers continued to take their migraine medications daily after a year – either because they didn’t work or caused too many side effects, according to a 2017 Mayo Clinic study.
Still, the new Ubrelvy study had some limitations. First, it needs to be repeated in a larger group to determine how widespread its benefits are.
Second, the study itself was funded by AbbVie, which owns and sells the drug. In 2023, sales of Ubrelvy and another migraine drug called Qulipta generated $1.223 billion in revenue, the company’s financial reports say.
Finally, the study relied on participants reporting their own symptoms, which sometimes makes the results inaccurate or subject to personal bias.
