A Weight Loss Drug for Migraine?
Several years ago, a drug was being developed to counter obesity. The development was scrapped in 2007, but it’s coming back – this time as a pain medication.
The medication is currently being tested under the name LAT8881 by Lateral Pharma. Here’s a quick description from the company:
LAT8881 is a small 16 amino acid peptide modelled on the C-terminus segment of human growth hormone (hGH).
[Lateral Pharma]
LAT8881 has been shown to have an excellent preclinical and clinical safety profile …
So LAT8881 has a proven safety record so far. It was tried at various doses and was well tolerated, with minimal side effects compared to other pain drugs. With that background, it’s being repurposed as a drug for “neuropathic pain, osteoarthritis and other chronic painful diseases”, including migraine.
It’s also a very different approach, biologically, from other pain medications on the market.
Why was the drug never further developed for obesity? It simply didn’t meat the expectations of the researchers in one of the advanced trials. So although it may help with obesity in some patients, it was not thought to be economically viable to continue studies.
However, considering all the migraine medication that may cause weight gain, one that may do the opposite certainly is appealing. And with a new approach, it may help patients who so far have not found relief.
If you’re in Australia, you may qualify for the clinical trial. All information for applying can be found here: A Proof of Concept Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Oral LAT8881 in Acute Migraine
Interestingly enough, researchers early on speculated that there might be a weight loss benefit to CGRP drugs. If you’re taking one of the new CGRP migraine preventatives, what has your experience been with weight change?