Anti-CGRP migraine drugs cut monthly headache days by 45 percent in Spain

Neurologists in the Catalan Health Service, a public healthcare system in Spain, administered preventive migraine drugs to 5,438 adult patients between 2019 and 2023.

The study tracked patients receiving three specific monoclonal antibodies: erenumab, fremanezumab, and galcanezumab. These treatments target the CGRP pathway to prevent migraines. The analysis found that patients saw a 45 percent reduction in monthly migraine days over nine months of treatment. At the start of the study, patients averaged 16.68 monthly migraine days.

After three months, this average dropped to 10.67, and by nine months, it reached 9.09. Patients also used 40 percent fewer acute migraine medications during the same period. The adoption of these drugs grew rapidly within the Catalan public system. Annual treatment initiations rose from 72 in 2019 to 2,406 in 2023. This increase pushed cumulative pharmaceutical spending to over 18 million euros by the end of 2023.

While many patients maintained benefits, some discontinued treatment due to a lack of effectiveness or adverse events.