Several companies are in the late stages of testing a new class of migraine drug. These drugs target a chemical known as CGRP, which researchers find is involved in the brain's pain-signaling during migraines.
"Finally, a new era seems to be emerging," says David Dodick." He should know. Dodick is the director of the migraine program at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, president of the International Headache Society and chairman of the American Migraine Foundation.
Drug companies are developing medicines designed to block or neutralize CGRP. Alder BioPharmaceuticals Inc., Amgen, Eli Lilly & Co. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. are in the late stages of testing injections known as monoclonal antibodies. First approvals of them could come in 2018, according to Citi Research.
Allergen Inc., which sells Botox for treatment of chronic migraines, is working on CGRP-blocking pills which could be approved as early as 2019.