Key clinical point: Erenumab vs placebo demonstrated a similar safety profile across all age groups of patients with chronic or episodic migraine, with no increase in adverse events because of age.
Major finding: Incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was similar with 70 and 140 mg erenumab vs placebo across age groups: <40 (44.2% and 43.7% vs 44.4%, respectively), 40-49 (42.1% and 42.9% vs 49.2%, respectively), 50-59 (43.5% and 50.6% vs 41.6%, respectively), and ≥60 (39.5% and 48.6% vs 59.4%, respectively) years. The age-stratified incidence of treatment-emergent serious adverse events was low with both erenumab doses, with none reported among patients aged ≥60 years.
Study details: Findings are from a pooled and age-stratified analysis of five phase 2 and 3 randomized controlled trials including 3345 patients with chronic or episodic migraine with or without aura who were randomly assigned to receive erenumab (70 or 140 mg) or placebo.
Disclosures: This study was funded by Novartis Pharma AG, Switzerland . Erenumab was co-developed by Novartis and Amgen. Six authors declared being current or former employees or stockholders of Novartis or Amgen. C Lampl declared receiving honoraria from Novartis.
Source: Lampl C et al. Safety and tolerability of erenumab in individuals with episodic or chronic migraine across age groups: A pooled analysis of placebo-controlled trials. J Headache Pain. 2022;23:104 (Aug 18). Doi: 10.1186/s10194-022-01470-4