“Wearing off” refers to the well-described phenomenon whereby clinical symptoms return or worsen before the next dose of a drug is due and improve after the next dose is taken. This analysis examined whether “wearing off”, defined as reduced efficacy of a drug in the final weeks before next scheduled dose, is observed with quarterly fremanezumab.

In this 52-week, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study, patients with chronic migraine (CM) or episodic migraine (EM) received fremanezumab either monthly or quarterly (every 3 months [months 1,4,7,9, and 10]).  For selected months, which represented the last month before next quarterly injection (months 3, 6, and 12), the difference in the average number of migraine days between weeks 1-2 and weeks 3-4 was calculated.

During the third month after quarterly fremanezumab injections, outcomes with quarterly fremanezumab were comparable to those observed with monthly fremanezumab, with only minimal numeric increases in migraine days (non-significant) between weeks 1-2 and 3-4. Therefore, this analysis confirms that patients receiving quarterly fremanezumab did not experience a “wearing off” effect.