How long does it take for Emgality to work?

When Emgality (galcanezumab) is administered to prevent migraine, it starts working within one month of initiation, but it may take up to five or six months for the full effects of Emgality to be seen.
When Emgality is administered for the treatment of cluster headache, it starts working within one week of starting treatment, but it may take up to three weeks for the full effects to be seen.

How effective is Emgality for migraine?

Trials have shown that after one month, the number of migraine days had decreased by approximately 3.7 from baseline in participants assigned to Emgality compared to a decrease of approximately 1.6 in those assigned to placebo (an inactive injection). After six months (the end of the trial) the number of migraine days in the Emgality group had decreased by just over 5 compared with a decrease of approximately 3 days in those assigned to placebo. On average, over the one to 6 month period, Emgality decreased the number of headache days by 4.3 and 4.7 in two separate trials.

59% to 62% of people with migraine had at least a 50% reduction in their number of headache days after 6 months treatment; 34% to 39% had at least a 75% reduction in their number of headache days after 6 months treatment; and 12% to 16% had at least a 100% reduction from baseline in the number of monthly migraine headache days over the 6-month treatment period.

How effective is Emgality for chronic migraine?

For those with chronic migraine, Emgality reduced the number of headache days by an average of 4.8 days, over the one to three-month period of the trial. This was a difference of 2.1 days from placebo.

How effective is Emgality for cluster headache?

For cluster headache, the average decrease in the number of headaches from baseline over weeks one to three was 8.7 in the Emgality group compared with 5.2 in the placebo group. 71.4% of people taking Emgality reported at least a 50% reduction in their number of headache days after 3 weeks of treatment compared to 52.6% of those taking placebo.

How is Emgality given?

For the prevention of migraine, Emgality is given as a 240mg dose initially (two consecutive subcutaneous injections of 120 mg each) followed by a monthly dose of 120 mg. Emgality is injected subcutaneously (under the skin).

For the treatment of episodic cluster headache, Emgality is given as three 100mg doses, which are taken one after the other at the start of a cluster period and then every month until the end of the cluster period.