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Objective EMPOwER, a double-blind, randomised, phase 3 study, evaluated the efficacy and safety of erenumab in adults with episodic migraine from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Methods Randomised patients (N = 900) received monthly subcutaneous injections of placebo, erenumab 70 mg, or 140 mg (3:3:2) for 3 months. Primary endpoint was change from baseline in monthly migraine days at Month 3. Other endpoints included achievement of ≥50%, ≥75%, and 100% reduction in monthly migraine days, change in monthly acute migraine-specific medication treatment days, patient-reported outcomes, and safety assessment. Results At baseline, mean (standard deviation) age was 37.5 (9.9) years, 81.9% were women, and monthly migraine days was 8.2 (2.8). At Month 3, change from baseline in monthly migraine days (primary endpoint) was −3.1, −4.2, and −4.8 days for placebo, erenumab 70 mg, and erenumab 140 mg, respectively, with a statistically significant difference for erenumab versus placebo (P = 0.002 [70 mg], P Conclusions This study of erenumab in patients with episodic migraine from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America met all primary and secondary endpoints. A consistent numerical benefit was observed with erenumab 140 mg versus erenumab 70 mg across all efficacy endpoints. These findings extend evidence of erenumab’s efficacy and safety to patients under-represented in previous trials. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03333109

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of erenumab on patient-reported, functional outcomes in patients with episodic migraine (EM) in whom 2–4 preventives were not useful from the Phase 3b LIBERTY study.MethodsAs previously reported, 246 patients with EM with 2–4 prior failed preventives were randomised 1:1 to subcutaneous erenumab 140 mg or placebo every 4 weeks for 12 weeks. This analysis evaluated Migraine Physical Function Impact Diary (MPFID), Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) scores at Week 12. P values were nominal without multiplicity adjustment.ResultsErenumab significantly improved MPFID-Physical Impairment (PI) and Everyday Activities (EA) scores versus placebo (treatment difference (TD) (95% CI) MPFID-PI: −3.5 (−5.7 to –1.2) (p=0.003); MPFID-EA: −3.9 (−6.1 to –1.7)) (pConclusionAt 12 weeks, erenumab was efficacious on functional outcomes in patients with EM in whom 2–4 preventives were not useful.Trial registration detailsClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03096834.

BackgroundA substantial proportion of patients with migraine does not respond to, or cannot tolerate, oral preventive treatments. Erenumab is a novel CGRP-receptor antibody with preventive efficacy in migraine. We assessed its efficacy and tolerability in patients with episodic migraine in whom previous treatment with two-to-four migraine preventives had been unsuccessful.MethodsLIBERTY was a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised study at 59 sites in 16 countries. Eligible patients were aged 18–65 years and had a history of episodic migraine with or without aura for at least 12 months, had migraine for an average of 4–14 days per month during the 3 months before screening, and had been treated unsuccessfully (in terms of either efficacy or tolerability, or both) with between two and four preventive treatments. Eligible participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either erenumab 140 mg (via two 70 mg injections) or placebo every 4 weeks subcutaneously for 12 weeks. Randomisation was by interactive response technology and was stratified by monthly frequency of migraine headache (4–7 vs 8–14 migraine days per month) during the baseline phase. Cenduit generated the randomisation list and assigned participants to groups. Participants, investigators, people doing various assessments, and the study sponsor were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving a 50% or greater reduction in the mean number of monthly migraine days during weeks 9–12. Efficacy was measured in the full analysis set, which included all randomly assigned patients who started their assigned treatment and completed at least one post-baseline monthly migraine day measurement. Safety and tolerability were assessed by recording adverse events and by physical examination, assessment of vital signs, clinical laboratory assessments, and electrocardiography. Safety was assessed in all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of study drug. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03096834. The trial is closed to new participants, but the open-label extension phase is ongoing.FindingsBetween March 20, 2017, and Oct 27, 2017, 246 participants were randomly assigned, 121 to the erenumab group and 125 to the placebo group. 95 of 246 (39%) participants had previously unsuccessfully tried two preventive drugs, 93 (38%) had tried three, and 56 (23%) had tried four. At week 12, 36 (30%) patients in the erenumab had a 50% or greater reduction from baseline in the mean number of monthly migraine days, compared with 17 (14%) in the placebo group (odds ratio 2·7 [95% CI 1·4–5·2]; p=0·002). The tolerability and safety profiles of erenumab and placebo were similar. The most frequent treatment-emergent adverse event was injection site pain, which occurred in seven (6%) participants in both groups.InterpretationCompared with placebo, erenumab was efficacious in patients with episodic migraine who previously did not respond to or tolerate between two and four previous migraine preventive treatments. Erenumab might be an option for patients with difficult-to-treat migraine who have high unmet needs and few treatment options.Funding:Novartis Pharma.

To assess the effectiveness and safety of vildagliptin/metformin initial combination therapy in drug-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).INITIAL was a 24-week prospective, observational study in T2DM patients with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥ 7.5%, and prescribed vildagliptin/metformin as initial combination therapy. The primary endpoint was change in HbA1c from baseline to week 24. Key secondary endpoints were HbA1c change from baseline to week 12, proportion of patients achieving HbA1c ≤7.0%, change in body weight at 12 and 24 weeks, change in HbA1c by sub-groups (baseline HbA1c, age, body mass index [BMI], dosage strength, co-morbidities) from baseline to week 24, and safety.A total of 532 patients were enrolled. The mean age, HbA1c, and BMI were 49.6 ± 11.27 years, 9.3 ± 1.57%, and 26.7 ± 4.50 kg/mOverall, in a relatively young drug-naïve T2DM Asian study population with high baseline HbA1c and often associated with cardiovascular risk factors, vildagliptin/metformin combination therapy was associated with significant and clinically relevant HbA1c reduction from baseline. This effect was seen at week 12, was maintained over 24 weeks, and was accompanied by good tolerability.

IntroductionTo assess efficacy of erenumab in the first three months of the open-label extension phase (OLEP; 13–24 weeks) of the LIBERTY study.MethodsIn the double-blind treatment phase (DBTP), 246 patients were randomized to placebo and erenumab 140 mg for 12 weeks, following which, patients completing that phase (N=240) were enrolled in OLEP, to receive monthly erenumab 140 mg. Outcomes measured monthly throughout to week 24 were achievement of at least 50%/75%/100% reduction in monthly migraine days (MMD), change from DBTP baseline in MMD, monthly acute migraine-specific medication days (MSMD), Headache Impact Test (HIT-6TM) total score, everyday activities (EA) and physical impairment (PI) as measured by the Migraine Physical Function Impact Diary (MPFID).ResultsOverall, 228/240(95.0%) patients completed the 24 week visit of the OLEP. In the overall population at Week 24, 39.2%, 15.9% and 7.0% patients achieved ≥50%/≥75%/100% reduction in MMD. The mean (standard deviation) change from DBTP baseline in MMD was −2.7(4.4) and −1.4(3.0) in MSMD; and −7.6(8.0), −2.5(9.2) and −4.0(9.0) in HIT-6TM, MPFID-PI and MPFID-EA scores respectively. Patients with continuous use of erenumab showed sustained efficacy in all outcomes assessed. Patients who switched from placebo to erenumab in the OLEP showed improvement from the first measurement at Week 16 on all outcomes assessed.ConclusionsEfficacy of erenumab was sustained throughout 24 weeks in a hard to treat patient population with multiple prior preventive treatment failures. Overall, efficacy data over 24 weeks (assessed over weeks 13–16,17–20 and 21–24) was generally in line with prior erenumab trials.