Intranasal zavegepant for the acute treatment of migraine.

Introduction: Migraine is a highly prevalent chronic, inherited neurological condition of the brain which carries a significant level of disability. Despite advances, there is an unmet need for more effective therapies.

Areas covered: Zavegepant nasal spray is a recent therapeutic option which acts as a calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist. The objective is to review the efficacy, safety, and additional results of the most recent trials investigating intranasal zavegepant for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura. The authors searched PubMed using the keywords 'zavegepant,' 'Zavzpret,' 'migraine,' 'calcitonin gene-related peptide,' 'CGRP receptor antagonists.' This article covers Phase 1, Phase 2/3, and Phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of intranasal zavegepant for treatment of acute migraine attacks.

Expert opinion: Intranasal zavegepant is an efficacious, safe, and tolerable anti-migraine drug based on clinical trials and clinical experience. It is especially useful for patients who experience attacks of sudden onset, those with nausea or vomiting, or a high cardiovascular risk burden. Dysgeusia was common; future studies are needed to better characterize this adverse event. Head-to-head studies are lacking with other migraine-specific therapies; the decision to treat should be patient-centered, with attack-specific characteristics in mind.