Dr Reddy's launches wearable device for drug-free management of migraine

Global pharma company Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Thursday announced the launch of Nerivio in India, a wearable therapy device approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for drug-free migraine management.

Nerivio is the first US FDA-approved device for preventing and treating migraines. It is tailored for both acute and prophylactic (preventive) migraine treatment in patients aged 12 and above.

In January this year, Dr Reddy's entered an exclusive agreement with Theranica for the marketing and distribution of Nerivio in India. Recently, Nerivio received an expanded CE mark approval for dual-use (acute and/or prevention) migraine treatment in Europe. Dr Reddy's also signed an exclusive agreement for commercial marketing and distribution in several European countries.

Commenting on this, M.V. Ramana, Chief Executive Officer, Branded Markets (India and Emerging Markets), Dr Reddy's, stated, “The roll-out of Nerivio marks our entry into digital therapeutics (DTx). It is an area that is seeing increasing adoption by physicians as well as patients due to its potential to reduce pill burden and decrease dependency on non-specific medication in chronic or hard-to-treat diseases. Given the migraine disease burden, its associated symptoms, lack of effective treatment, and impact on well-being, quality of life, and productivity, we are happy to bring Nerivio to India.”

The device, worn on the upper arm, features 18 built-in 45-minute treatment sessions. It activates conditioned pain modulation by stimulating nerve endings, initiating a natural pain-relieving process in the brainstem. Nerivio is accompanied by an application, offering features such as an interactive migraine diary for symptom tracking and analytics.

The release highlights migraine as a global health challenge, with approximately 30 per cent of adults experiencing it for 15 or more days per month, affecting 1.7 per cent to 4 per cent of the population. Women are disproportionately impacted, constituting around 60 per cent of the 213 million migraine sufferers in India alone.

Dr Reddy's is a global pharmaceutical company that offers a portfolio of products and services including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), generics, branded generics, biosimilars, and over-the-counter (OTC) products.