(C20) Patient characteristics and treatment patterns for migraine patients initiating erenumab in Denmark and Sweden

Publication Number: 964

Background: Erenumab is a calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist indicated for preventive treatment of migraine in adults. Erenumab has been approved by the European Medicines Agency, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and by some other regulators since 2018.

Objectives: To report selected interim results addressing the primary objective of a regulator-mandated non-interventional study, aiming to characterize treatment uptake and characteristics of early erenumab initiators in Denmark and Sweden.

Methods: This study was based on routinely collected administrative data individually linked from population-based registries in Denmark and Sweden. Data were available on demographics, medication dispensings and administrations, and specialist care diagnoses. The study population consisted of adult (age ≥18 years) residents in each country initiating erenumab treatment between August 2018 and December 2020. All analyses were descriptive.

Results: There were 800 patients initiating erenumab in Denmark and 3673 patients initiating erenumab in Sweden during the observation period. Among treatment initiators, 85% (Denmark) and 82% (Sweden) were women. Median age at initiation was 46 years (Denmark) and 47 years (Sweden). The majority of prescribers were neurologists. In both countries, ≥95% of erenumab initiators used acute antimigraine treatments such as triptans and >60% used preventive treatments in 12 months before erenumab initiation. Half of the erenumab initiators in both countries were persistent users within one year after initiation.

Conclusions: The extent of erenumab treatment initiation differed in Denmark and Sweden, even considering differences in the population size. Erenumab was prescribed predominantly by neurologists. Further, prior use of migraine therapies was common among erenumab initiators, reflecting the local guidelines for offering erenumab treatment to patients with prior treatment history.