Two replicate randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of the time to onset of pain relief in the acute treatment of migraine with a fast-disintegrating/rapid-release formulation of sumatriptan tablets.

BACKGROUND The gastric stasis that commonly accompanies migraine headache may impair absorption of conventional oral tablets in the stomach. A fast-disintegrating/rapid-release formulation of sumatriptan has been developed to enhance tablet disintegration and drug dispersion and potentially improve absorption. OBJECTIVE Two studies were conducted comparing the time to onset of relief from moderate or severe migraine pain with the fast-disintegrating/rapid-release formulation of sumatriptan tablets 50 and 100 mg and placebo. METHODS These were 2 identically designed randomized, double-blind, parallel-group studies. Sumatriptan 50 or 100 mg or placebo was taken on an outpatient basis to treat a single moderate or severe migraine attack. Using a personal digital assistant, patients recorded the time of dosing and the time at which pain severity reached none or mild (ie, pain relief) or none (ie, pain free) in real time so that the time to onset of relief could be measured as a continuous variable. Onset of relief was defined as the earliest time point at which a statistically significant difference in pain relief compared with placebo was achieved and maintained through 2 hours after dosing. Before dosing and at pre-determined time points after dosing, patients also provided an assessment of migraine pain as none, mild, moderate, or severe. At a clinic visit within 1 week after treatment of the migraine attack, patients were queried about adverse events. For each adverse event, investigators recorded whether study medication was considered the cause. Data analyses were undertaken for each study individually and, in post hoc analyses of the primary and key secondary end points, on pooled data from both studies. RESULTS The 2 studies comprised 2696 patients: 902 received sumatriptan 50 mg, 902 received sumatriptan 100 mg, and 892 received placebo. Patients' mean age ranged from 40.2 to 40.8 years across treatment groups, and most patients were female (83%-87%) and white (92%-93%). In the analysis of pooled data, sumatriptan tablets provided significantly more effective pain relief compared with placebo as early as 20 minutes after dosing with the 100-mg dose and as early as 30 minutes after dosing with the 50-mg dose (P < or = 0.05). Similar results were observed for the individual studies: in study 1, sumatriptan tablets were significantly more effective than placebo at 25 minutes with the 100-mg dose and at 50 minutes with the 50-mg dose; in study 2, sumatriptan tablets were significantly more effective than placebo at 17 minutes for the 100-mg dose and at 30 minutes for the 50-mg dose (P < or = 0.05). In the pooled data, the cumulative percentages of patients with pain relief by 2 hours after dosing were 72% for the 100-mg dose and 67% for the 50-mg dose, compared with 42% for placebo (P < or = 0.001, both sumatriptan doses vs placebo). The cumulative percentages of patients with a pain-free response by 2 hours were 47% for the 100-mg dose, 40% for the 50-mg dose, and 15% for placebo (P < or = 0.001, both sumatriptan doses vs placebo). In the individual studies, significantly more patients receiving either sumatriptan dose were migraine free 2 hours after dosing and had sustained pain relief and a sustained pain-free response over 24 hours compared with placebo (P < or = 0.001, both sumatriptan doses vs placebo). The only drug-related adverse events reported in >2% of patients in any treatment group in either study were nausea (both studies: 3% sumatriptan 100 mg, 2% sumatriptan 50 mg, 1% placebo) and paresthesia (study 1: <1% sumatriptan 100 mg, <1% sumatriptan 50 mg, 0% placebo; study 2: 3% sumatriptan 100 mg, 1% sumatriptan 50 mg, <1% placebo). CONCLUSIONS In these studies, sumatriptan tablets in a fast-disintegrating/rapid-release formulation were effective for the acute treatment of moderate to severe migraine pain, were generally well tolerated, and achieved an onset of pain relief as early as 20 minutes for 100 mg and as early as 30 minutes for 50 mg.