AHS 2021 Takeaways and the State of Migraine Research: Richard B. Lipton, MD

"The rules for who needs preventive treatment may change when you have an acute treatment that also works as a preventive. One advantage of gepants as a class is that most acute treatments taken too often actually cause headaches to come more frequently and can lead to medication overuse headache.”

In recent years, migraine specialists and neurologists within the space have benefited from an influx of therapies and modalities to not only treat but to prevent migraine. Among the most notable is rimegepant (Nurtec ODT; Biohaven), an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonist that became the first approved treatment for both acute and preventive therapy earlier this year.

Targeting the GCRP pathway discovered by Peter Goadsby, MD, PhD, DSc, has been a breakthrough way to directly impact and treat patients with both episodic and chronic migraine. Richard B. Lipton, MD, has served as an investigator on multiple trials that have evaluated rimegepant, and said that the recent approval has opened the door for new treatment regimen possibilities, as well as additional layered approaches.

At the 2021 American Headache Society (AHS) 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting, June 3-6, Lipton, director of the Montefiore Headache Center, showcased several research endeavors in which he and his colleagues took part. In an interview with NeurologyLive, he discussed the greatest takeaways from the meeting, including thoughts on topline research, awards, and the direction that the space is moving toward.