Frovatriptan is a triptan

Triptan

Triptans are a family of tryptamine-based drugs used as abortive medication in the treatment of migraines and cluster headaches. They were first introduced in the 1990s...

 drug

Medication

A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...

 developed by Vernalis for the treatment of migraine

Migraine

Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by moderate to severe headaches, and nausea...

 headache

Headache

A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the...

s and for short term prevention of menstrual migraine. The product is licensed to Endo Pharmaceuticals

Endo Pharmaceuticals

Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company. It was created as a result of a management buyout from DuPont Merck in 1997. Three DuPont Merck executives Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company. It was created as a result of a management buyout from...

 in North America and Menarini

Menarini

The Menarini Group is an Italian pharmaceutical company. It was founded in Naples, Italy, in 1886, and has three divisions: Menarini Ricerche, Menarini Biotech and Menarini Diagnostics. It is committed to the search for pharmacological solutions for such therapeutic areas as cardiovascular...

 in Europe.

Pharmacology

Frovatriptan inhibits excessive dilation of arteries that supply blood to the head. It is available as 2.5 mg tablets.

Frovatriptan has mean terminal elimination half-life

Half-life

Half-life, abbreviated t½, is the period of time it takes for the amount of a substance undergoing decay to decrease by half. The name was originally used to describe a characteristic of unstable atoms , but it may apply to any quantity which follows a set-rate decay.The original term, dating to...

 of approximately 26 hours, which is substantially longer than other triptans.

Mechanism of Action

Frovatriptan is a 5HT receptor agonist, with high affinity for the 5-HT_1B/1D receptors. It has no significant effects on the GABA_A mediated channel activity and benzodiazepine binding sites.

Adverse Effects

Serious but rare cardiac events have been reported in patients with risk factors predictive of CAD. These include: coronary artery vasospams, transient myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.

Contraindications

Frovatriptan should not be given to patients with:

• Ischemic Heart Disease
• Cerebrovascular Syndrome
• Peripheral Vascular Disease
• Uncontrolled Hypertension
• Hemiplegic or Basilar Migraine

US licensing

Frovatriptan is available only by prescription

Medical prescription

A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....

in the United States, and Canada where a secondary New Drug Approval (sNDA) was filed in July 2006, and which is currently pending. The FDA anticipates completing its review of this application on or before the current PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act) review date of August 19, 2007. If the sNDA is approved, Frova will be the only medication indicated in the U.S. for the short-term prevention of menstrual migraine (MM).

External links

• Frova (manufacturer's website)
• Frovatriptan Succinate (patient information)
• FDA labeling