The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday that it’s approved a preventative treatment for migraine headaches.
The new treatment, a monthly injection, is called Aimovig.
It works “by blocking the activity of calcitonin gene-related peptide, a molecule that is involved in migraine attacks,” the FDA said in a statement.
“Aimovig provides patients with a novel option for reducing the number of days with migraine,” Dr. Eric Bastings, deputy director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the statement. “We need new treatments for this painful and often debilitating condition.”
Many migraine sufferers report symptoms including intense or pulsing pain, as well as nausea and acute sensitivity to light and sound.
Often, migraines are reoccurring. They are three times more likely in women than in men. About 10 percent of people worldwide are affected by them, according to the FDA.
Aimovig is produced by Amgen and Novartis, and it’s expected to be available within a week, according to The New York Times.
