FDA Clears gammaCore Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy for Migraine-Associated Pain

electroCore, LLC (electroCore), a commercial-stage bioelectronic medicine company, announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an expanded label for gammaCore (nVNS) as an acute treatment of pain associated with migraine in adult patients. gammaCore therapy is a proprietary, non-invasive neuromodulation treatment delivered by a hand-held unit that stimulates the vagus nerve through the skin. This label expansion is the first for electroCore since gammaCore received its initial FDA clearance for the acute treatment of pain associated with episodic cluster headache in adult patients in April 2017.
 
“Migraine is a debilitating disease affecting 39 million Americans, the majority of whom do not seek medical care for their pain.¹ With the FDA’s decision to release gammaCore for migraine, patients now have access to an effective and safe therapy which can be self-administered to acutely treat the pain associated with migraine,” said Stephen D. Silberstein, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Director of the Headache Center, Thomas Jefferson University.
 
The FDA clearance of gammaCore for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine was principally supported by the results of the multicenter, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial, PRESTO (PRospectivE Study of nVNS for the Acute Treatment Of Migraine).2 Results from this trial, which were recently profiled at the Congress of the International Headache Society (IHC) in Vancouverin September 2017, demonstrated that treatment with gammaCore for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine was superior to sham, and also enabled patients to reach pain freedom more frequently by 30, 60, and 120 minutes compared with sham treatment.² The results further showed that a significantly higher proportion of gammaCore-treated patients achieved pain relief within two hours compared with the control treatment.² Consistent with all prior studies with gammaCore, the therapy was found to be well tolerated by patients.2
 
“With annual healthcare and lost productivity costs associated with migraine measured in the tens of billions of dollars in the U.S., the availability of gammaCore provides patients with a new treatment option to relieve migraine pain, while also offering the potential to alleviate some of the economic strain that arises from their condition as well,” said Francis R. Amato, Chief Executive Officer of electroCore.
 
gammaCore is also available outside of the U.S., including in Canada and the European Economic Area. In the U.S., gammaCore is commercially available for the acute treatment of pain associated with episodic cluster headache in adults. electroCore expects commercial availability of gammaCore for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine headache in adults in the second quarter of 2018.
 
References
¹Migraine facts. Migraine Research Foundation. http://migraineresearchfoundation.org/about-migraine/migraine-facts. Accessed January 2018.
²Tassorelli, C., (September 2017). Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) for the acute treatment of migraine: a randomized controlled trial. Oral presentation at the Congress of the International Headache Society, Vancouver, Canada.