The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for the management of migraine attacks - urogeptant. 

This is the first drug from the class of antagonists of calcitonin-gene-linked peptide for oral administration. It is indicated for migraine with or without aura.

“Migraine is an often disabling condition that affects an estimated 37 million people in the U.S.,” said Billy Dunn, M.D., acting director of the Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Ubrelvy represents an important new option for the acute treatment of migraine in adults, as it is the first drug in its class approved for this indication. The FDA is pleased to approve a novel treatment for patients suffering from migraine and will continue to work with stakeholders to promote the development of new safe and effective migraine therapies.”

Calcitonin-gene-linked peptide agonists are a relatively new group of drugs that block receptors in the brain that play an important role in the onset of migraine. The first drug in this group was approved by the FDA last year. But all these drugs have required intravenous administration and have been very expensive so far.

A study published in November of this year showed that urogeptant relieves headache for two hours in 20% of patients. At the same time, placebo gave such an effect in 11-14% of cases. Symptoms that researchers called the most disturbing manifestations of migraine were reported in 40% of those who received urogeptants and 30% of those who received placebo.