Evaluating rimegepant for the treatment of migraine

Tessa de Vries, Linda Al-Hassany, Antoinette MaassenVanDenBrink*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
383 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

IntroductionCalcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a vasodilatory neuropeptide involved in the pathophysiology of migraine, a highly disabling neurovascular disorder characterized by severe headache attacks. Rimegepant is a small-molecule CGRP receptor antagonist approved by the FDA for acute treatment of migraine and currently under investigation for migraine prophylaxis. Areas covered The authors summarize available data on safety and tolerability of rimegepant and provide insights on its use for acute migraine treatment. Expert opinion Rimegepant seems to be well tolerated and superior to placebo for two-hour pain freedom. Moreover, rimegepant does not induce vasoconstriction, and is therefore not contraindicated in patients with cardiovascular disease, nor does it seem to induce medication-overuse headache. However, the therapeutic gain of rimegepant is only small, and since CGRP is a vital rescue molecule during ischemia, blocking the CGRP pathway might be detrimental. Although current evidence on CGRP receptor blockade has shown no cardiovascular adverse events, clinicians should remain critical about the use of rimegepant, as well as other CGRP (receptor)-inhibiting drugs. Further research should focus on determining the consequences of long-term CGRP blockade, especially during ischemia or cardiovascular disease, the exact receptors antagonized by rimegepant, and potential effects of combining rimegepant with other antimigraine treatments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)973-979
Number of pages7
JournalExpert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy
Volume22
Issue number8
Early online date10 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are supported by a VICI grant (grant no. 9150181910040) from the Dutch Research Council.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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