MAP Pharma: migraine drug helps hard-to-treat groups

LOS ANGELES, Sept 10 (Reuters) - An inhaled migraine drug being developed by MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc (MAPP.O) combats headache pain in a range of hard-to-treat patient groups, the company said on Thursday.

MAP had already announced in May that the late-stage clinical trial of the drug, Levadex, reached all four of its goals, including statistically significant relief of pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound.

The company said on Thursday at a meeting of the International Headache Society that further analysis of the trial showed that the drug was effective in treating a broad spectrum of migraine, including migraine subpopulations that are often resistant to current therapies.

These sub-groups included severely disabled patients, migraine that occurred in the early morning, patients with other types of pain and patients with severe or moderate baseline pain.

MAP said it plans to launch another Phase 3 trial of Levadex in the first quarter of next year.

The drug is an inhaled version of dihydroergotamine, an older drug used intravenously to treat migraines. Levadex is formulated to be used in MAP's proprietary inhaler, which is similar to a standard asthma inhaler except that patients breathe in to receive the drug rather than push on the device. (Reporting by Deena Beasley, editing by Matthew Lewis)