Chilli peppers and migraines, scientists have noticed, have traits in common. This has led to research into the development of drugs which can prevent the symptoms of migraine before occurrence. The link between how skin reacts when rubbed with chili oil and what happens in the brain during a migraine has attracted Amgen Inc. (AMGN), and other companies seeking to create medicines for the more than 36 million Americans who suffer from migraines.
Treatment options for migraine are currently limited and those that are on the market do not work for every sufferer.
“Migraines are an extremely common disorder, and it affects people really in the prime of their lives,” Rob Lenz, who is leading Amgen’s migraine drug development, said in an interview. Still, no drugs have been “developed specifically for the treatment of migraines,” he said. “They were developed as anti-epileptics, or blood pressure lowering agents.”
That may soon change. Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, California, and other biotechnology companies such as Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Arteaus Therapeutics LLC, and Labrys Biologics Inc., are targeting a chemical released during a migraine that carries a “pain” signal from nerve to nerve. By blocking a receptor from receiving the message, these companies aim to create drugs that cut off developing migraines before symptoms start.
Similar pain-signal transmission occurs when chili oil touches the skin. In that situation, the capsaicin in the pepper causes the body to release calcitonin gene-related peptides, or CGRP, leading to an increase in blood flow to the affected area. To show the Amgen drug works, researchers injected it under the skin of patients who had chilli oil on their skin. The therapy blocked the CGRP that causes increased blood flow.
“It sounds simple, but it’s important - it tells us that our drug is getting into the body in relative concentrations that are generally well tolerated and that block CGRP,” Lenz said.
The new class of drugs under development are biologics, often delivered by injection, and are more complex, targeted and longer lasting in the body than the earlier failed attempts, Lenz said.
Amgen’s AMG 334 and Alder’s ALD 403 are being tested in the second of three clinical trials typically required for US regulatory approval.
“We’ll have data on this before the year is out,” Randall Schatzman, chief executive officer of closely held Alder, based in Bothell, Washington, said in an interview.
