INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Migraines can derail your day.
Eli Lilly is working on a new drug that it hopes will provide the fix that patients have been lacking.
"I was miserable, couldn't function," said Groff. "I mean, it affects your work, affects your family, affects everything you do."
Her neurologist concedes the therapies available are limited.
"We find it difficult to find a drug that actually works for people," said Dr. Cynthia McGarvey, MD.
McGarvey prescribed a series of botox injections for Groff, in the back of her head, neck and forehead. Groff says it provides relief and right now, believes there is no better option.
There is nothing, I've tried them all," said Groff.
Convincing her, doctors and other patients to try a once a month injection is a task ahead for Lilly if its new treatment Galcanexumab, which shows efficacy in late stage trials, is ultimately approved by the FDA.
"One of the big differences between this drug and botox is botox requires a physician to administer it. This drug will be able to be self-administered by a patient at home once monthly," said Bill Ratner, Lilly Senior Marketing Director.
Three separate stage 3 studies just released Friday indicate patients with 4 to 15 migraines a month gained 4 to 5 migraine-free days a month when taking Galcanexumab.
This drug is a drug that prevents migraine," Ratner said. "The first and most important thing, so many drugs are out there to stop the migraine once it's happened, but this is actually there to prevent the migraine from ever coming on."
McGarvey says, if approved, Galcanezumab could be a valuable tool for select patients.
I think this would be a good therapy for people who didn't want to think about something on a daily basis, who wanted to try a medication they don't have to worry about more than once a month," she said.
