Efficacy and safety of rizatriptan wafer for the acute treatment of migraine

Rizatriptan is a potent, highly selective 5HT(1B/1D) agonist with rapid ons et of action for acute treatment of migraine. Rizatriptan wafer(1) is a nov el, freeze-dried dosage formulation of rizatriptan which rapidly disintegra tes on the tongue, is swallowed with saliva, and may be taken without liqui ds. The efficacy and tolerability of rizatriptan wafer were examined in a p lacebo-controlled, double-blind, outpatient study in 555 migraineurs. The p rimary efficacy endpoint was pain relief at 2 h. From 30 min onwards, signi ficantly more patients experienced pain relief and became pain-free after r izatriptan 10-mg wafer compared to placebo. At 2 h, the percentage of patie nts with pain relief was significantly higher after rizatriptan 10-mg wafer (74%), 5-mg wafer (59%) compared with placebo (28%). Rizatriptan 10-mg waf er was superior to rizatriptan 5-mg wafer on pain relief at 1.5 and 2 h (p< 0.05). Significantly more patients were pain-free at 2h after rizatriptan 1 0-mg wafer (42%), S-mg wafer (35%) compared with placebo (10%). Both doses of rizatriptan wafer were well tolerated. Rizatriptan wafer is a convenient , highly effective new formulation for acute treatment of migraine.