Eli Lilly is already working to grow market share for its migraine prevention med Emgality, but now the company has a new medicine to add to its suite.
The drugmaker Friday won approval for Reyvow for the acute treatment of migraines as they occur. The drug, formerly known as lasmiditan, becomes the latest launch in Lilly’s pain and migraine franchise, which it bolstered last year with the approval of CGRP drug Emgality.
Even though Emgality won the third CGRP approval and trailed rivals into the market, it’s been growing market share and held 31% of the treatment category as of mid-August. The company also picked up a cluster headache nod for the drug in June.
For its part, Reyvow represents the first med to score FDA approval in the first new drug class for the painful condition in two decades. Lilly Bio-Medicines President Patrik Jonsson said in a statement the nod is “an exciting development for patients and physicians seeking the potential for pain freedom when a migraine attack happens.”
The FDA approved the drug based on two studies testing the med against placebo in a total of more than 3,100 patients. In the studies, patients who took Reyvow were more likely to have their migraine symptoms resolved after two hours than those who took placebo.
Lilly picked up the med in its $ 960 million acquisition of CoLucid in 2017 and filed for approval last November.