With several new acute migraine treatments vying for market share, Eli Lilly is touting new data on Reyvow showing the med can provide patients “pain freedom” in as little as one hour, plus sustained relief for up to two days.
In a phase 3 trial called Centurion, patients who took Lilly’s new drug at the 200mg dose were 4.6 times more likely to experience pain freedom at the two-hour mark compared with those who took placebo.
Further, patients who took the drug were seven times more likely to experience pain freedom at one hour than those who took placebo. Reyvow patients also were more likely to feel pain-free at 24 hours and 48 hours after taking the medicine than those who took placebo.
Lilly’s Reyvow won FDA approval last October, ahead of other new migraine meds Ubrelvy from AbbVie and Nurtec ODT from Biohaven. In marketing materials, the drugmaker says its medicine can deliver pain freedom in two hours.
For its part, Biohaven says Nurtec ODT can allow patients to return to normal within one hour and delivers lasting pain freedom for up to 2 days. AbbVie’s Ubrelvy can erase pain within hours, the drugmaker says, while many people who have taken the medicine experience relief in an hour.
As of the second quarter of 2020, Lilly’s launch hadn’t yet gained steam; the Indianapolis drugmaker didn’t report any sales for the drug during Q2, indicating its haul was not material to the company’s top line. The drugmaker didn’t launch until early 2020 because it had to wait for DEA scheduling.
Lilly is hoping the new data can help jump-start the launch against the competition. But unlike its rivals, Lilly’s med carries a warning telling patients not to drive or operate machinery for eight hours after taking the medicine.
Reyvow is Lilly’s most recent migraine and pain rollout after its Emgality launch. That drug, approved to prevent migraines, generated $ 161 million in the first half of the year.