Eptinezumab for prevention of chronic migraine: A randomized phase 2b clinical trial. (August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dodick, David W; Lipton, Richard B; Silberstein, Stephen; Goadsby, Peter J; Biondi, David; Hirman, Joe; Cady, Roger; Smith, Jeff
• Is Part Of: Cephalalgia. Volume 39:Number 9(2019)
• Page Start: 1075
• Page End: 1085
• Publication Date: 2019-08
• Subjects: Eptinezumab -- ALD403 -- anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody -- chronic migraine -- preventive migraine treatment -- clinical trial -- 50% responder rates -- 75% responder rates -- 100% responder rates; Headache -- Periodicals; 616.8491
• DOI: 10.1177/0333102419858355
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0333-1024

Abstract

Background: Calcitonin gene-related peptide plays an important role in migraine pathophysiology. We evaluated eptinezumab, an intravenous (IV) anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibody, for the prevention of chronic migraine. Objective: To determine the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of four dose levels of eptinezumab and to inform the phase 3 development program. Methods: This was a phase 2b, parallel-group, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging clinical trial. Men and women (N = 616) aged 18–55 years were included if they had a diagnosis of chronic migraine, with onset at age ≤35 years and history of chronic migraine ≥1 year. During the 28-day screening period, patients must have had ≥15 headache days, including ≥8 migraine days, with ≥5 migraine attacks as recorded in the electronic diary. Patients were assigned in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio to eptinezumab 300, 100, 30, 10 mg or placebo, administered as a single IV infusion. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients with a ≥75% decrease in monthly migraine days over weeks 1–12 compared with the 28-day screening period. Results: The ≥75% migraine responder rates over weeks 1–12 for eptinezumab 300, 100, 30, and 10 mg were 33.3%, 31.4%, 28.2%, and 26.8%, respectively, versus 20.7% for placebo ( p = 0.033, 0.072, 0.201, 0.294 vs. placebo). Secondary efficacy endpoints (e.g. ≥50% responder rate, change from baseline in frequency of migraine/headache days, and percentage of severe migraines) had results favoring the three higher eptinezumab doses versus placebo. Eptinezumab was well tolerated and adverse event rates were similar to placebo. Conclusions: The results of this trial demonstrate that eptinezumab appears effective and well-tolerated for the preventive treatment of chronic migraine and justifies the conduct of pivotal phase 3 trials for migraine prevention. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02275117.