Dive Brief:
- Migraines can range from painful to disabling, and over 90% of people with migraines can’t function normally during an attack; it’s the sixth highest cause worldwide of years lost to disability.
- Promius Pharma, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian pharma company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, has launched the NoTime4Migraines social media campaign to empower patients and help them to manage their disease better.
- The company is urging people to use #NoTime4Migraines to share ‘migraine monster’ stories on Facebook and Twitter.
Dive Insight:
Migraines are more than just a headache. While for some people it’s a case of lying in a dark room and waiting for it to go away, for others it’s incapacitating pain, nausea, dizziness, visual disturbances and hypersensitivity to sound, light, touch and even smell. According to the Migraine Research Foundation, they are the third most common disease in the world, and affect around 12% of the population. And this means a lot of people missing out on work, education and social activities, which has a big social and economic impact for people and their families.
Unfortunately, only a small proportion of people with migraine seek help, and even for those who do seek help, not all find relief through available drugs. Promius Pharma’s NoTime4Migraines social media campaign has potential to raise the profile of the disease. As well as empowering patients, this could also raise the profile amongst physicians and pharma companies.
The U.S. market currently has 3.7 million insured patients diagnosed with migraines each year, according to IMS Health, but nearly half of those go untreated.
There are a variety of prescription and over-the-counter medications in a high value market. OTC treatments include single and combination pills that might include acetaminophen, naproxen, ibuprofen or other NSAIDs, aspirin or caffeine. Prescription medications include the triptans, which were a huge breakthrough for the treatment of migraines and cluster headaches in the 1990s. A variety of companies have different forms of triptans as injectable drugs, including Promius Pharma’s ZEMBRACE SymTouch prefilled sumatriptan autoinjector. In some markets, triptans are available over-the-counter. Yet, nearly 35%, or 1.3 million, patients are not eligible for use of triptans due to cardiovascular risks, according to IMS Health.
Botox, first developed to smooth out the wrinkles, has found a role in migraine, but it currently has to be injected. By acquiring delivery company Anterios, Allergan may be able to get its botulinum toxin through the skin without the shots.
Earlier in development, Amgen (with Novartis) is looking to prevent rather than treat migraine using AMG 334, its calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitor. Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Lilly and Teva are all using the same approach.