Erenumab safety and efficacy in migraine: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

BACKGROUND

Erenumab is a new medicine recently approved in the United States of America for the preventive treatment of migraine among adults. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis and evaluation of the efficacy and safety of erenumab among patients with migraine.

METHODS

The electronic databases that were searched comprised PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane library, which were independently retrieved by 2 reviewers. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared placebo with erenumab were selected. Mean differences (MDs), pooled risk ratios (RRs), and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for continuous and dichotomous data, respectively.

RESULTS

Five RCTs representing 2928 patients were included. Pooled analysis showed significant reductions in the 50% responder rate (RR 1.55; P < .00001; I = 49%). In addition, the mean monthly migraine days from baseline in the erenumab group compared with placebo (MD-1.32; P < .00001; I = 100%) and migraine-specific medication days) from baseline (MD-1.41; P < .00001; I = 100%) were significantly decreased for the erenumab group as compared with placebo. Furthermore, Migraine-specific medication days from baseline in the 140 mg erenumab group were significantly reduced as compared the 70 mg group (MD = 0.55; P < .00001; I = 90%). Finally, there was no significant difference between the erenumab group and placebo for any adverse event and serious adverse event.

CONCLUSION

Among patients with migraine, both 70 and 140 mg of erenumab were associated with reduced Migraine-specific medication days, Migraine-specific medication days from baseline, and an increased rate of a 50% reduction, in the absence of an increased risk of any serious adverse effect.