Lundbeck’s experimental drug cuts migraine days in mid-stage trial

LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) – Denmark’s Lundbeck said on Thursday its experimental drug bocunebart cut monthly migraine days in a mid-stage study, supporting further development of a new type of treatment for migraine, one of the world’s most common neurological disorders.

Bocunebart targets a migraine-related pathway called PACAP, which is distinct from CGRP targeted by some existing preventative drugs, potentially offering an option for patients who do not respond well to current therapies.

• In the intravenous part of the trial, bocunebart met the primary goal in patients with one to four prior preventive treatment failures, reducing monthly migraine days by an average of 4.24 days over weeks one to 12, versus 2.86 days for placebo.

• That equates to a placebo-adjusted reduction of 1.38 days, Lundbeck said in data presented at the American Headache Society congress in Orlando, Florida.

• Jefferies analysts had expected repeated intravenous dosing to show a “modest step up” from a prior study, where a single dose cut monthly migraine days by two on a placebo-adjusted basis over four weeks.

• Lundbeck said pooled data across its mid-stage studies for patients with severe, chronic migraine showed a stronger effect, with bocunebart reducing monthly migraine days by 2.31 more days than placebo.

• Bocunebart was generally well tolerated, with no new safety signals reported.

• The most common treatment-emergent adverse event, seen in at least 5% of patients, was nasopharyngitis, or cold-like symptoms.

• Jefferies forecasts peak global sales of $400 million for the drug.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija. Editing by Mark Potter)