Approval granted for migraine drug Aimovig

Chronic migraine is thought to affect more than 610,000 people in the UK, and is a debilitating condition that can impact sufferers in a variety of different ways. Whilst there is evidence that migraine has a financial impact of £9.7 billion annually in the UK due to the cost of treating patients and loss of productivity, the amount of public funding it receives in comparison with other neurological diseases does not reflect this. Such is the impact of migraine on people’s lives that the 2010 Equality Act classed it as a disability in the event of long-term suffering and a debilitating impact on work or daily activities.
Whilst NICE and SMC will submit their first thoughts on Norvartis’ Aimovig (erenumab) in 2019, the EMA has approved it, and it becomes the first migraine prevention treatment in Europe. It blocks the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, which it is believed are part of the pain transmission signals associated with migraine.
Professor Zameel Cader, Consultant Neurologist at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Oxford Headache Centre, said: “Erenumab has been shown to reduce the average number of monthly migraine days in both episodic and chronic migraine patients, including those who have tried existing treatment options. Today’s news represents a new approach for the clinical community in our ability to treat those that suffer most with migraine.”