Migraine disease did not see any new medications on the market for over two decades and did not have disease-specific preventive medication until 2018. We are truly seeing a new treatment frontier rapidly developing. Starting in May 2018 we saw the FDA approval of preventive medications, Aimovig, Ajovy, Emgality and Vyepti. In addition, there are also two new classes of medications (gepants and ditans). Abortive options include ReyVow, Trudhesa, Ubrelvy and Zavzpret - Qulipta is a preventive - and Nurtec ODT has been FDA-approved for both abortive and preventive use.
In addition to the new medications, there has been a surge of interest in medical devices for migraine. We now have 5 FDA-cleared medical devices including Cefaly, gammaCore, Nerivio, Relivion MG and the SAVI Dual.
This page offers resources to answer Frequently Asked Questions about each of the new medications and devices as they are approved.
For specific information on CGRP inhibitors, and articles on calcitonin gene related peptide, CLICK HERE.
We encourage people to join the Hope for Migraine group on Facebook which specifically focuses on the new and emerging treatments. For those who are concerned about accessibility and affordability of the new medications there are a few options. Pharmaceutical companies normally offer copay programs for new medications which provide easy affordable access, however according to the FDA rules these programs are not available to people who have government-funded health insurance. For those with Medicare, Medicaid and TriCare it can be a longer process of appealing medication denials, obtaining prior authorizations, and sometimes formulary exceptions. Some pharmaceutical companies offer patient assistance programs and the Patient Advocate Foundation also offers free case management for patients who are unable to get their medications approved.
CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies: Migraine Preventives
AIMOVIG (erenumab)
AJOVY (fremanezumab)
EMGALITY (galcanezumab)
VYETPI (eptinezumab)
CGRP Gepants: Migraine Abortives & Preventives
Other New Migraine Medications
In addition to the CGRP inhibitors, there are two other new medications that have been FDA approved since 2018 and available for doctors to prescribe: ReyVow and Trudhesa.
ReyVow is a new class of abortive migraine medication called "ditan" - this class is a 5-HT1F receptor agonist that act on the trigeminal system without causing vasoconstrictions. Trudhesa is an ergotamine nasal spray designed to improve uptake of the medication and fast relief from an attack.
REYVOW (lasmiditan)
TRUDHESA (dihydroergotamine mesylate)
Medical Devices: Migraine Abortives & Preventives
RELIVION MG®
Download the Migraine Treatment Toolbox
Bring it to your next doctor's appointment and ask your doctor which options would be good to add to your personal migraine treatment toolbox.
[…] a care line or reporting line that you can call. For the newer medications you can check out the Migraine Meanderings FAQs documents. You can also go directly to the medication’s website and look for the telephone number. All […]