Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.British drug maker AstraZeneca has had promising results from a study trialing its nasal headache spray Zomig in adolescents. The data indicates the drug to be nearly 15% more effective than placebo at reducing headaches one hour after administration.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Zomig (zolmitriptan) nasal spray 5mg achieved a 58.1% headache response rate in adolescents compared to a 43.3% response in those treated with placebo after one hour, a 14.8% difference.
The multi-center crossover study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of Zomig nasal spray in 248 adolescents with migraine. Each initial migraine attack was treated with placebo nasal spray. If headache pain remained moderate or severe after fifteen minutes, patients were then treated with Zomig or placebo nasal spray. In addition, a worst-case scenario analysis was performed. Due to the unique study design, Zomig was not statistically significant compared to placebo.
The data shows a 37.2% headache response can be achieved after 15 minutes when using Zomig nasal spary. This is compared to a 22.8% with placebo, a significance level greater than 0.02. In addition Zomig showed a one-hour pain-free rate of 27.7% compared with 10.2% with placebo.
Migraine is a type of headache that usually happens in episodes or “attacks.” Attacks may last anywhere from four hours to as long as 72 hours. Previously migraine was considered to be another form of headache, now it is recognized as a distinct neurological process. The pain of a migraine headache is generally moderate to severe and can disrupt normal activities.
According to AstraZeneca, adolescents commonly experience migraine, they estimated that up to 10% of adolescents in the US are affected by migraine and that up to 2.75 million school days are missed annually because of migraine attacks in children and adolescents.