AbbVie recently announced its publication in The Lancet showing that administration of Ubrelvy (ubrogepant) during the prodrome stage of a migraine can reduce the likelihood of a migraine attack developing. Ubrelvy is the first and only acute migraine treatment that has demonstrated Phase III data in the prodrome stage. These findings could grant Ubrelvy a competitive edge in a crowded market for migraine pain relief, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Christie Wong, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The prodrome stage of a migraine occurs between one to six hours before the onset of a migraine attack, and the symptoms can include sensitivity to light and sound, fatigue, and neck stiffness and/or pain. However, not all migraine patients experience prodromal symptoms, and the migraine stages may vary in terms of duration and severity between patients. Thus, Ubrelvy could provide an additional benefit to a subset of migraine patients who are able to identify prodromal symptoms.”

The migraine market is heavily genericized with many acute treatments for migraine pain relief, creating a competitive environment. Key opinion leaders (KOLs) previously interviewed by GlobalData believed that while triptans are the industry gold standard and are likely to remain the first-line treatment choice for migraine pain relief, Ubrelvy is an option for patients who cannot tolerate triptans.  KOLs also considered Eli Lilly’s Reyvow (lasmiditan), an alternative to triptan treatment.

Wong adds: “Unlike Pfizer’s gepant, Nurtec (rimegepant), which is approved as an acute treatment and as a preventive treatment for patients with up to 14 migraines per month, Ubrelvy has not been investigated for preventive properties to reduce the number of monthly migraine days. But Ubrelvy could give patients, who are able to identify prodromal symptoms, with the ability to treat a migraine during the early stages. This could help differentiate Ubrelvy in a crowded migraine market.”

According to GlobalData’s Clinical Trial database, there are currently no ongoing or planned trials that investigate interventional products during the prodrome stage of migraine.

Wong concludes: “AbbVie is a strong player in the migraine market with an arsenal of treatments for the various stages of migraine such as Qulipta (atogepant) and Botox (onabotulinumtoxin A) as preventive treatments and Ubrelvy for acute treatment.”