The calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitor galcanezumab (Emgality) will be PBS listed for the treatment of chronic migraine from June 1.
The long-awaited PBS listing was part of the Federal Government’s Budget 2021-22 announcement which included $43 billion allocated over four years to the PBS.
Neurologist Associate Professor Richard Stark, from the Alfred Hospital, welcomed the PBS listing of the CGRP inhibitor.
“This is a tremendous milestone which will prompt the reassessment of a large number of patients at the severe end of the migraine spectrum,” he said in a statement from Eli Lilly.
“Chronic migraine can be severely disabling, with recurrent attacks giving patients little respite or capacity to engage in, or enjoy, the activities of daily life. The importance of new forms of effective and well-tolerated migraine prevention cannot be overstated,” he said.
Evidence for galcanezumab includes the 2018 REGAIN study which found patients receiving the CGRP inhibitor had fewer migraine headache days per month than patients on placebo (4.8 v 2.7 days).