Dive Brief:
- Teva and Eli Lilly are developing antibody-based migraine treatments based on the same target—calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a sensory chemical, which researchers believe is associated with the inflammation and pain signaling involved in migraine headache.
- Lilly's candidate is LY2951742, and Teva's candidate is TEV-48125.
- Both drugs have shown therapeutic efficacy in clinical trials, though at the moment, it appears that Teva's drug is more effective in terms of the greatest reduction in the number of headaches per month.
Dive Insight:
Since the 1990s, tryptamine-based triptans have been the standard-of-care for treating migraines and cluster headaches that don't respond to NSAID therapy. The new therapies in development by Lilly and Teva are both injectable treatments. Both companies have completed phase II and are moving rapidly towards phase III.
In clinical trials, Lilly's drug significantly improved prevention of headaches versus placebo, while Teva's drug led to about six fewer headaches per month, versus a reduction of 3.46 headaches per month with placbeo.
Other companies are also developing CGRP-based therapies, including Amgen and Alder Biopharmaceuticals, and there are implications that Amgen may actually wind up coming out on top. Stay tuned.