New Drug and Neuromodulatory Targets in Migraine Treatment

Despite various therapeutic options in the drug treatment of migraine, the treatment outcome is often unsatisfactory and insufficient. Many patients and doctors therefore are hoping for new migraine drugs as well as neuromodulatory approaches which are currently being investigated in clinical studies. Several drugs are being tested for acute migraine therapy, targeting the CGRP, TRPV1, glutamate or GABAA receptor. Unfortunately, the results of the clinical trial were less promising than preclinical data let assume. The most efficient drug seems to be humanized antibodies against CGRP or its receptor which can be used for prophylactic migraine treatment. Candesartan might be also efficient in the prophylactic treatment if first-line medication shows no efficacy or cannot be used because of side effects or contraindications. Clinical data on the efficacy of neuromodulatory approaches are rather inconsistent. Especially invasive approaches should only be used in chronic migraine and within clinical trials.