Telcagepant Explained

Telcagepant (INN) (code name MK-0974) is a calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist which was an investigational drug for the acute treatment and prevention of migraine, developed by Merck & Co.^[1]

In the acute treatment of migraine, it was found to have equal efficacy to rizatriptan^[2] and zolmitriptan.^[3]

A Phase IIa clinical trial studying telcagepant for the prophylaxis of episodic migraine was stopped on March 26, 2009, after the "identification of two patients with significant elevations in serum transaminases".A memo to study locations stated that telcagepant had preliminarily been reported to increase the hepatic liver enzyme alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in "11 out of 660 randomized (double-blinded) study participants." All study participants were told to stop taking the medication.^[4]

In July 2011, Merck announced that it had discontinued development of telcagepant.^[5]

See also

• Olcegepant

Notes and References

1. http://www.prous.com/molecules/default.asp?ID=181 Molecule of the Month February 2009
2. Ho TW, Mannix LK, Fan X, Assaid C, Furtek C, Jones CJ, Lines CR, Rapoport AM . 6 . Randomized controlled trial of an oral CGRP receptor antagonist, MK-0974, in acute treatment of migraine . Neurology . 70 . 16 . 1304–12 . April 2008 . 17914062 . 10.1212/01.WNL.0000286940.29755.61 . 11612471 .
3. Ho TW, Ferrari MD, Dodick DW, Galet V, Kost J, Fan X, Leibensperger H, Froman S, Assaid C, Lines C, Koppen H, Winner PK . 6 . Efficacy and tolerability of MK-0974 (telcagepant), a new oral antagonist of calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, compared with zolmitriptan for acute migraine: a randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel-treatment trial . Lancet . 372 . 9656 . 2115–23 . December 2008 . 19036425 . 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61626-8 . 43069027 .
4. Merck & Co.: Memo to all US study locations involved in protocol MK0974-049
5. News: Press release: Merck Announces Second Quarter 2011 Financial Results. Merck. July 29, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20130412063354/http://www.mercknewsroom.com/press-release/financial-news/merck-announces-second-quarter-2011-financial-results. April 12, 2013.