'Life-changing' tablet that tackles common illness could soon be on sale in UK

04 September 2023 , 01:54

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The new drug could soon make life much easier for migraine sufferers (Image: Getty Images)

A pill that has been shown to halve the number of attacks suffered by migraine sufferers could soon be readily available in the UK.

Atogepant is a tablet that, when taken daily, has shown to cut migraines by as much as 50 per cent – twice as effective as treatments currently available in Great Britain. The drug has been used in the US since September 2021 and was approved for use across the European Union last month.

Here in the UK, it is currently awaiting approval from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for a roll-out, but has already been officially licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Healthcare experts predict it is simply a matter of time before the drug is commonplace in Brits' medicine cabinets.

Atogepant has been available in the US for two years (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Migraine is a headache disorder manifesting as recurring attacks – usually lasting anywhere between four hours and three days – involving throbbing head pain of moderate tos evere intensity. It is often accompanied by nausea, sometimes vomiting, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to sound, and/or other sensory stimuli.

Some sufferers can have warning symptoms called an aura, before the start of a headache. Factors that can trigger attacks in people susceptible to migraines include stress, change in sleep pattern, over-tiredness and consumption of caffeine or alcohol. In its latest available figures, NICE estimates that there are 190,000 migraine attacks experienced every day in England and 6 million people suffer from regular migraines in the UK.

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Atogepan works as a CGRP inhibitor, which means it effectively blocks a protein known to trigger migraines in sufferers. In the European Union it is available as a prescription to anyone who can prove they suffer more than four migraines days a month.

The drug is produced by US firm AbbVie, and is believed to cost around £8,000 a year. King's College Hospital's Professor Peter Goadsby, who led the discovery of CGRP in the 1980s, said treatments similar to Atogepant could be ‘life-changing’ for sufferers.

Matt Clemenson