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The following is a summary of “Effectiveness of fremanezumab treatment in patients with migraine headache,” published in the June 2024 issue of Pain by Kikui, et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess fremanezumab’s effectiveness and safety in preventing migraines.
They involved 165 adult individuals with migraine (17 males, 148 females; mean age 45.5 ± 16.0 years) treated with fremanezumab (September 2021 to August 2022), receiving either a monthly 225 mg or quarterly 675 mg dose based on preference, with treatment duration up to 1 year unless discontinued, and collecting monthly data on migraine days, headache days, and days needing acute medication.
The results showed that 75.7% received fremanezumab as the initial anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide antibody. Both episodic and chronic migraine groups experienced significant reductions in monthly migraine days, headache days, and days needing acute medication. In the episodic migraine group, baseline monthly headache days decreased from 8.1 ± 4.0 to 6.1 ± 4.8, 5.8 ± 4.4, 4.7 ± 3.6, and 4.6 ± 3.3 days at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. For chronic migraine, baseline monthly headache days decreased from 20.9 ± 6.1 to 17.0 ± 8.9, 15.0 ± 9.2, 13.0 ± 7.7, and 12.0 ± 9.1 days at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively, with increased treatment benefits observed after 6 months.
Investigators concluded that fremanezumab demonstrated efficacy and tolerability in a real-world setting for migraine prevention, but further research is needed to identify factors influencing treatment response.
Source: academic.oup.com/painmedicine/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/pm/pnae050/7695888