New migraine drug works better than Imitrex-studies

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

LOS ANGELES, Apr 6 (Reuters) An experimental migraine drug under review by US regulators works better than industry leader Imitrex, according to research.

The drug, called Trexima, was developed by Pozen Inc and will be produced and sold by GlaxoSmithKline Plc, which currently markets Imitrex, a migraine drug with sales of about 1.2 billion dollars last year.

Two trials comparing Trexima, which combines Imitrex with the anti-inflammatory drug naproxen, showed that 57 per cent to 65 per cent of patients treated with the drug reported pain relief after two hours, compared with 50-55 per cent of patients treated with Imitrex alone and 28-29 per cent of patients given placebo.

After four hours, 72-78 per cent of Trexima patients reported pain relief, compared with 61-66 per cent for the Imitrex group and 37 per cent of patients on placebo.

''We now have a better understanding of how a migraine develops in the brain ... A therapy that both inhibits inflammation and treats pain may address multiple mechanisms of migraine,'' Dr Stephen Silberstein, professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University, said in a statement yesterday.

Side effects of Trexima included dizziness, nausea and tingling.

Results from the two trials involving more than 2,800 patients were presented at a San Diego meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to decided in June whether to approve sales of Trexima.

REUTERS SHB RN0920

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