Ubrogepant (another migraine drug in development)
The development of the new CGRP class of drugs (actually, calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonists) is continuing. Last year, Allergan gained the rights to two such medications from Merck – MK-1602 and MK-8031.
Merck ran into trouble several years ago with another one of it’s CGRP receptor antagonists, called MK-0974 and later Telcagepant, because of concerns about liver toxicity.
The two other drugs, however, belong to a different “chemical series”, and so far there has been no evidence of liver problems with these.
Farthest along is MK-1602, also known as ubrogepant. Ubrogepant is just about to enter phase 3 trials.
Back in June, ubrogepant was featured at a meeting of the American Headache Society. The report posted online said:
Researchers at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine conducted a randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind trial of the efficacy of ubrogepant in treating a single migraine attack. Patients who received the study medication reported a reduction in headache severity from severe or moderate to mild or none within two hours. Ubrogepant is free of known cardiovascular risk and may provide an important treatment option for individuals who suffer from cardiovascular disease. This trial supports ubrogepant’s effectiveness and provides further evidence that CGRP receptor antagonists are viable options for the acute treatment of migraine.
In other words, ubrogepant is another hopeful in the world of CGRP drugs for migraine.
Allergan is about to begin trials and will be looking for adults with episodic migraine who are interested in participating. At time of writing they are not yet recruiting participants. However, if you’re interested and want more information, visit the clinical trials page here: Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Oral Ubrogepant in the Acute Treatment of Migraine