2021 Volume 38 Issue 4 Pages 638-642
Migraine is known to have a profound effect on daily and social life due to a headache attack. Previously, there was no satisfactory migraine treatment experience, but since the emergence of an acute treatment, triptan, has brought about a revolutionary change in migraine treatment. Nevertheless, in a recent report, the years of life lived with disability for people with migraine is second in the world and fourth in Japan, and thus they are forced to live in poor health. Migraine preventative treatment has been using antiepileptic drugs, β–blockers, and antidepressants. However, treatment failure and safety concerns associated with long–term use are a challenge. Therefore, many new drugs have been developed. Calcitonin gene–related peptide (CGRP) has been shown to play an important role in the pathophysiology of migraine. Overseas, anti–CGRP and anti–CGRP receptor antibodies have been developed and marketed as a treatment for migraine. In Japan, an anti–CGRP antibody (galcanezumab) will also be launched as a preventive treatment for migraine in the first half of 2021, followed by other drugs. This paper describes an anti–CGRP antibodies (galcanezumab, fremanezumab, and eptinezumab) and anti–CGRP receptor antibody (erenumab), which are expected as a preventive treatment for migraine.
