Treatment of acute migraine with subcutaneous GR43175 in West Germany

A subcutaneous preparation of GR43175, a novel antimigraine 5-HT 1-like agonist, was considered to represent a convenient way of administering the drug to patients during an acute migraine attack. In a series of open, uncontrolled dose-ranging studies, 82 patients with migraine were assessed serially for changes in severity of headache and associated symptoms following subcutaneous GR43175 in doses of 1-4 mg. Subcutaneous injection of 3 mg or 4 mg was found to be most effective. Within 60 min, 90% of patients had obtained complete relief of all migraine symptoms. Tolerability was good, 59% of patients reporting no adverse effects. Those reported mainly comprised transient local irritation to the injection. There were no changes attributable to GR43175 in heart rate, blood pressure, ECG readings or laboratory parameters.