Production of one of the world’s most sought-after drugs for migraine therapy starts in Moscow

The Russian pharmaceutical company NovaMedica has announced the production and market launch of the first large batch of the drug Relonova® intended for relief of migraine-associated headaches. The drug is based on the Rizatriptan molecule, which for the first time is fully localized in Russia, from development and manufacturing to introduction in the specialist prescription practice. Rizatriptan is one of the most sought-after molecules in the world for relief and alleviation of migraine symptoms.

Relonova® is designed for acute treatment of headaches caused by migraine attacks (with or without aura) in patients over 18 years of age. It can be used for a long history of migraine, when the effectiveness of other painkillers is significantly reduced.

Relonova® is manufactured at the capacities of the Technological Center NovaMedica Innotech (100% subsidiary of NovaMedica, portfolio company of RUSNANO) located in Technopolis Moscow. To date, the facility has produced more than 140 thousand packs of the new drug, which is released in the form of 10mg tablets. Relonova® was launched in the market on July 7 and will be available for purchase in pharmacies and for ordering as early as this month.

According to the IQVIA analytical agency, in 2022, the volume of the Russian market of drugs for the treatment of migraine amounted to about 2 billion rubles, which is 24% more than in the previous year.

Elena Litvinova
CEO of NovaMedica

We have been developing a portfolio of drugs for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system since 2018. It covers those segments of the CNS field where the need for medicines in Russia is not fully met – vascular cognitive disorders, neuropathic pain, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, migraine, sleep disorders and others. NovaMedica's own-development drugs are intended to meet precisely these requirements from the medical community and patients, and their local manufacturing will ensure stable supplies to the domestic market. With our work, we prove that Russian manufacturers are successfully fulfilling the objective of providing patients with modern and innovative drugs, despite the challenges posed by the external environment.
 

Zakhar Leikin
Medical Director of NovaMedica

The burden of migraine as a chronic disease is not only due to the severity of attacks, but is largely determined by its impact on work capacity, social activity and family relationships. Migraine is the second most prevalent cause of adjustment problems and results in a more significant impairment of functional activity than all other neurological disorders. An analysis of data from epidemiological studies done in recent years shows a steady increase in the number of cases of migraine in the population, especially among young people.

The efficacy of Rizatriptan 10mg in acute migraine treatment has been well demonstrated in a number of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (RCTs). A meta-analysis of seven Phase III RCTs involving a total of 4,814 patients treated for at least one migraine episode showed that Rizatriptan 10mg was more effective than placebo in relieving pain within 2 hours after ingestion (18% and 37%, respectively), maintaining a pain-free status for 24 hours (7% and 25%, respectively), reducing the severity of nausea, photo- and phonophobia, as well as functional disability. Rizatriptan has been shown to be highly effective in preventing migraine recurrence within 24 hours of taking the drug, without the need for repeated pain medications.

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