The aim of the SPECTRE study was to collect real-world evidence to analyze patient profiles and understand treatment with the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-receptor antagonist erenumab in Germany based on migraine characteristics and comorbidities.

Erenumab was the first anti-CGRP pathway treatment approved for the prevention of migraine, one of the most common neurological diseases world-wide. While randomized clinical trials give an insight into erenumab-based migraine prevention, it is also crucial to better understand the use of erenumab in clinical practice.

This non-interventional study was conducted at 105 sites in Germany and enrolled 571 adult migraine patients receiving erenumab treatment. Patients were either new on treatment or had initiated treatment within 3 months of entering the study. Apart from a headache diary, the patient-reported-outcome questionnaires HIT-6 and TSQM were used to assess the impact of headaches on daily life and treatment satisfaction.

The final analysis includes data from 571 migraine patients, predominantly female with chronic migraine and a high proportion of psychiatric comorbidities, who were treated with erenumab for 12-24 months. During the study, patients experienced improvement of their disease burden: after 3 months, the mean HIT-6 score had improved by >6 points. After 6 months, the number of MMDs and MHDs decreased significantly. At baseline, no patient had <4 MMDs, whereas 44.1% reported <4 MMDs after 6 months. More than half of the patients showed ≥ 50% reduction in MHDs within the same timeframe. Approximately 75% of the patients had a good/very good therapy response as assessed by the physician.

The SPECTRE study provided real-world insights into the migraine patient population in Germany who receive treatment with erenumab. The results support data collected in randomized clinical trials and add to the understanding of erenumab-based treatment as conducted by headache specialists in Germany.