Characterizing Real-World Outcomes With Eptinezumab in Migraine: Zubair Ahmed, MD

"We know this medicine works great for the population of patients that we’re studying in the clinical trials, but our population is a little bit different. We want to know if it works equally as well for our patients.”

Investigators from Cleveland Clinic conducted a retrospective review of electronic medical records of patients treated with intravenous eptinezumab (Vyepti; Lundbeck) to characterize and describe early real-world outcomes. Prior to treatment, the average headache frequency was 27 days per month, with patients trying, on average, 14 other preventive medicines. At follow-up visit, the average post-treatment headache frequency was 18 days per month.

Eptinezumab, an FDA approved anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibody, proved its safe and efficacious profile, while also supporting its use in patients who have refractory migraine and failed many other preventives. Notably, 38% (15 of 40) of patients reported 50% reduction of headache days per month, with a mean decrease of 9 headache days/month after first dose, indicating relatively quick response to treatment.

Senior author Zubair Ahmed, MD, neurologist, Cleveland Clinic, told NeurologyLive that it was interesting to see eptinezumab’s robust profile show success even after patients had failed more than 10 other preventives. He sat down to provide more context of the study, including the advantages of conducting real-world research, and how it might translate for an increased overall access for patients who may be eligible for preventive options.