Zomig: Past, present & future

Zomig now offers relief in a new form with more to come  
       

Related Resources • Triptans: for Migraine, Cluster, & Menstrual Migraine    Elsewhere on the Web • AstraZeneca • Zomig

The Past:

Although it may not seem so at times, there have been huge advances made it migraine treatment.

• Dateline 16^th century BC, Egypt: As an offering to the gods, pottery crocodiles were strapped to the heads of migraineurs.¹
• In 7,000 BC, migraines were thought to be caused by evil demons. The cure? Drilling holes in the skulls of migraine sufferers to let the demons out.¹
• More modern? In the 17^th century, doctors began developing the vascular theory of migraine. The treatment? Swinging patients around in circles to force the blood away from their heads!¹

Moving Ahead:
Brrrrrrrrrr. No, thank you! Let's fast forward to the late 20^th century. In 1991, Glaxo introduced the first triptan class drug, Imitrex. For many migraineurs, the face of treatment changed dynamically. Finally, there was a medication that worked to stop the migraine attack in its tracks rather than just masking the symptoms.

Since then, other triptans have hit the market: Zomig (Zolmitriptan), Maxalt (Rizatriptan), Amerge (Naratriptan), and Axert (Almotriptan). Imitrex has been available as tablets, injections, and nasal spray for quite some time. Maxalt came out as Maxalt MLT, a dissolvable tablet.

The Present:

One of the most recent additions to the arena is AstraZeneca's new Zomig-ZMT™, a melt formulation tablet that is made of water-soluble ingredients and is less compressed than traditional tablets, so it will dissolve quickly when placed in the mouth. In addition, ingredients have been added to give the tablet a slight effervescence to assist the melting and dispersal of the tablets.

There are two primary advantages to the orally disintegrating tablet (ODT):

• It eliminates the need to swallow a tablet during a time when many patients are experiencing varying degrees of nausea caused by the migraine attack.
• In a word — convenience. OTD's can be taken anywhere, anytime, and without water.

An international study, the Migraine and Zomig Evaluation study, "the impact of migraine on patients' lives, and their treatment needs and preferences have been investigated." The results of the study were presented recently at the 10th Congress of the International Headache Society: IHC 2001. The study concluded that:

"Patient preference is an important factor to consider in providing optimal migraine therapy. These studies show that the ODT formulation is well received by migraine sufferers. Zolmitriptan ODT is an effective acute treatment for migraine, and offers a convenient alternative that can be taken anytime and anywhere a migraine strikes."²

The Future:

Also presented at IHC 2001 were the results of studies of Zolmitriptan nasal spray. These studies showed Zolmitriptan to be more rapidly absorbed from the nasal spray than either traditional tablets or the ODT formulation. Look for a nasal spray delivery product to be the next addition to the Zomig line.

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¹ South V. Migraine: Everything You Need to Know. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1996.
² A. Dowson, E. A. MacGregor, J. Brandes & A. Eikerman (2001)
Zolmitriptan orally disintegrating tablets provide effective, convenient migraine relief.
Cephalalgia 21 (4), 419-420.

                 
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