The FDA has approved a nasal spray that relieves migraines in half an hour

The National Headache Association defines a person who suffers from migraines such as someone who has had five or more headache episodes that lasted between 4 and 72 hours each. In general, episodic migraines are much more common than chronic migraines, which are those characterized by episodes of headache generating two to eight times per month.

There is a huge range of medications on the market to treat this condition, but the vast majority are oral, which often causes stomach upset. This is why the new drug to combat migraine developed by the Pfizer laboratory, approved yesterday by the Food and Drug Administration of the federal government (FDA), attracts attention, which instead of being a pill is a nasal spray.

The drug will bear the trade name of Challenge and is indicated for the rapid treatment of migraine, in most cases taking effect between 15 and 30 minutes after entering the body.

“FDA approval of Zavzpret marks an important milestone in treating migraine sufferers who want pain relief but are uncomfortable taking oral medications,” said Angela Hwang, commercial director of Pfizer.

According to research conducted on this new product, Of the 1,405 patients who tried it between October 2020 and August 2021, 24% said they experienced pain relief within two hours of taking the drug.. For a condition like migraine that is hard to fight, 24% effectiveness is considered a high percentage.

Like any medicine, it has side effects. Among those observed so far are bad taste in the mouth, reported by 21% of patients, or hypersensitivity. There were people who even had swelling after consuming the drug, but these were very isolated cases.

Zavzpret is a drug known as “pantingwhich are those that block the peptide receptors linked to the calcitonin gene, which experts say causes intense inflammation and is associated with migraine pain. It is the first medication of its kind to come in the form of a nasal spray.

There are other migraine nasal sprays on the market but these are medications of the “triptanwhich work by reducing inflammation and constricting blood vessels to stop a migraine. Given this mechanism, doctors advise against this type of drug for people with cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure.

When this drug can be purchased from pharmacies is still unknown, but with FDA approval, the way is clear for it to happen in a few months.

Continue reading: