The drug ubrogepant doesn’t just ease the headache of a migraine, but also relieves symptoms like neck stiffness and fatigue if taken early enough
By Chris Simms
12 May 2025
The intense pain of a migraine can seriously affect a person’s day-to-day life
ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
A drug called ubrogepant, which is already used to treat migraines, has now been found to reduce the non-headache symptoms that often hit in the hours preceding a migraine itself – making it the first drug that is known to work on these early symptoms.
Before the debilitating headache of a migraine hits, many people experience a prodrome phase where they get warning signs, such as sensitivity to light or sound, dizziness and neck stiffness, which can cause considerable disruption to daily life on their own.
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Developers of migraine drugs have so far focused on treating the headache itself, and no therapies have been effective at alleviating these early symptoms.
But ubrogepant has shown promise in stopping migraine headaches if taken when early symptoms strike, prompting Peter Goadsby at King’s College London and his colleagues to look at whether it can dispel these, too.
They ran a study with 438 people, aged between 18 and 75, who had a history of migraines. Half the participants took a 100-milligram dose of ubrogepant when they felt symptoms suggesting a migraine headache was on its way, while the other half unknowingly took a placebo. Then, the next time prodromal symptoms hit, the participants took the opposite pill.