(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Pfizer Inc’s nasal spray for migraine, giving patients access to a potentially fast-acting option to treat their headaches.
The drug Zavzpret, also known as zavegepant, was approved for the treatment of acute migraine with or without aura in adults, the company said.
Pfizer added Zavzpret and other migraine treatments, including Nurtec ODT, to it drugs portfolio through its $11.6 billion buyout of Biohaven Pharmaceutical last year.
Zavzpret belongs to a class of drugs called calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibitors and will compete with other therapies from AbbVie Inc, Eli Lilly and Co, Amgen Inc and Teva Pharmaceutical.
The New-york based drugmaker, which expects to make the nasal spray available in pharmacies in July 2023, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request on pricing of the drug.
Pfizer is hoping to gain a competitive edge with zavegepant’s quicker speed of action than other migraine treatments. Biohaven has pitched it as the “Epipen of migraine”.
The company previously forecast $6 billion in sales from migraine portfolio at their peak.
The approval is based on data from a late-stage study that showed the drug helped in relieving migraine pain in 15 minutes.
Migraine is a type of headache characterized by recurrent attacks of moderate-to-severe throbbing and pulsating pain on one side of the head.
It affects 39 million people in the United States, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. There is currently no cure for migraine and the medicine prescribed by physicians help to prevent or stop headaches from occurring in patients.
(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Anil D’Silva)
