Is achieving higher standards in real-world migraine care feasible with anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies preventive therapies?: Insights from the EUREkA cohort

BackgroundThe International Headache Society has proposed new treatment goals for migraine prevention in real world, as a way to set higher standards of care. This study provides the first assessment of the proportion of individuals achieving them after 6 months of migraine-specific treatment with anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies (MAbs).MethodsThis was a prospective, real-world, European multicenter study, including adults with migraine treated with anti-CGRP MAbs (EUREkA cohort). We assessed the proportions of individuals in each treatment goal category-migraine freedom (no monthly migraine days [MMD]); optimal control (< 4 MMD), modest control (4-6 MMD); insufficient control (>6 MMD)-after 6 months of treatment. We also assessed the proportion of individuals with ≥50% reduction in MMD in the insufficient control group.ResultsOf the 5818 individuals in the EUREkA cohort, 4963 had 6 months data. Of these, 82.3% (4086/4963) were females and the median age was 48.0 [40.0-55.0] years. At baseline, the median monthly headache days [MHD] and MMD were 20.0 [13.3-28.0] and 15.0 [10.0-20.0], respectively. All participants were classified as having insufficient headache control (>6 MMD) at baseline. At month 6, 6.9% (342/4963) had migraine freedom, 22.9% (1137/4963) optimal control, 24.6% (1223/4963) modest control and 45.6% (2261/4963) insufficient control. In the insufficient control group, 27.1% (613/2261) had ≥50% reduction in MMD.ConclusionsHigh standards of care, defined as optimal disease control or even migraine freedom, are achieved in real-world settings with anti-CGRP MAbs in approximately 30% of individuals with a high migraine burden. These findings highlight the need to expand global access to these treatments. Future studies should explore whether initiating migraine-specific preventive treatments earlier could further reduce residual migraine days in responders, enabling a larger proportion of patients to achieve optimal disease control.