Background: To date, minimal data directly compare tocilizumab with baricitinib for treatment in moderate to severe COVID-19. Objective: To compare the rates of in-hospital mortality with progression to mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 who received either tocilizumab or baricitinib. Methods: The authors conducted a single-centered, institutional review board–approved, retrospective cohort study. Patients who were 18 years or older who were hospitalized with COVID-19 and who received tocilizumab or baricitinib were included. The primary end point is a composite outcome of progression to mechanical ventilation or in-hospital mortality. Secondary end points include components of the composite outcome and progression to higher level of care, duration of mechanical ventilation, and hospital and intensive care length of stay. Safety end points include the incidence of infections and thrombosis. Results: A total of 176 patients were included, of whom 61 (34.7%) received tocilizumab and 115 (65.3%) received baricitinib. In the primary outcome, there was no difference between the groups (52.5% tocilizumab vs 44.3% baricitinib, P = 0.305). For safety outcomes, there was a higher instance of thrombosis (11.5% tocilizumab vs 3.5% baricitinib, P = 0.042) and rates of antibiotic use after initiation of therapy (55.7% tocilizumab vs 38.3% baricitinib, P = 0.026) in the tocilizumab group. Conclusion and Relevance: There was no significant difference in the composite outcome in patients who received tocilizumab or baricitinib for the treatment of COVID-19. However, there was an increase in rates of thrombosis in those receiving tocilizumab compared with baricitinib. These results need to be confirmed in larger prospective, randomized trials.
Objective: Atogepant is a newly approved medication for the prevention of migraine. This review aims to discuss the efficacy, safety, cost, and place in therapy of atogepant. Methods: The authors performed a systematic search for sources, including articles, abstracts, and poster presentations. Queried databases were the National Institute of Health, US National Library of Medicine Clinical Trials, PubMed, European PMC, and the Cochrane Library. Search terms included atogepant, QULIPTA™, AGN-241689, MK-803, and N02CD07. Full-text, English language, randomized-controlled trials from 1 February 2012 to 1 February 2022 were included in the review. Additional relevant prescribing information, abstracts, and articles identified through the search were considered for inclusion in this review. A total of 193 database entries were evaluated for inclusion in this narrative review. Three articles representing two randomized controlled trials were reviewed. Results and conclusions: Atogepant, a small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist, is a daily oral treatment for migraine prevention. In placebo-controlled clinical trials, atogepant decreased mean monthly migraine days (MMD) over 12 weeks in patients with episodic migraine. Major treatment-related adverse effects include nausea and constipation. Long-term placebo-controlled efficacy and safety studies, chronic migraine studies, and studies in patients that failed more than two classes of preventive therapies are still pending. Atogepant represents one of many novel therapies for the prevention of migraine. To date, no head-to-head comparisons of atogepant versus other agents indicated for migraine prevention have been published. Atogepant offers patients an alternative therapy to injectable or infusion monoclonal antibody treatments and offers an alternative to non-specific migraine medications that are associated with poor tolerability. Due to its high cost and narrower therapeutic indications, atogepant may be reserved for a small subset of migraineurs who prefer oral therapy.
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