MSD drug ‘relieves migraine pain and symptoms’

Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) has announced the results of a phase III clinical study of its investigational orally-administered calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist as a treatment for moderate-to-severe migraine attacks.

Trial results for telcagepant – previously known as MK-0974 – show the compound significantly relieved such attacks, including migraine pain and migraine associated symptoms, when compared to placebo.

The data were presented at the European Headache/Migraine Trust International Congress held in London, England.

As a CGRP receptor antagonist, telcagepant uses a new potential mechanism to treat acute migraine attacks, affecting the neuropeptide thought to play a key role in the underlying pathophysiology of mgraine.

Over 1,700 patients were involved in the phase III study, with 1,294 of these administered with telcapegant.

Tony W Ho, senior director of clinical research at Merck Research Laboratories, said: “These data build on the clinical programme for telcagepant as a potential treatment for acute migraines.”

He added that the company looks forward to presenting additional data for this drug in the future.

In July 2008, MSD announced the results of a phase III clinical trial showing the results for telcagepant 300mg were similar to those seen for the highest dose of zolmitriptan with a lower rate of adverse events.