EAN 2021 | Comparing CGRP mAbs with preventive migraine standard of care: a likelihood to help or harm analysis

The development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) pathway for the preventive treatment of migraine has been a revolutionary step. Representing the first migraine-specific agents available, these therapeutics have achieved exciting results in clinical trials to date. However, there is a lack to direct comparisons between anti-CGRP mAbs and currently established standards of care. Dimos-Dimitrios Mitsikostas, MD, PhD, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, shares the findings of a ‘likelihood to help or harm analysis’, that aimed to compare safety and efficacy outcomes with the various available agents in order to aid decision making. The ratio of patients needed to be treated for a patient to achieve ≥ 50% reduction in migraine days to the number of patients needed to be treated for a patient to discontinue due to adverse events was calculated. The results showed that the anti-CGRP mAbs had a superior benefit-risk ratio compared to the established treatments for chronic and episodic migraine. This interview took place during the European Academy of Neurology 2021 congress.