By Connor Boyd For Mailonline
Published: 14:50 BST, 24 May 2019 | Updated: 14:51 BST, 24 May 2019
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Chronic migraine sufferers in England are calling for a 'life changing' drug to be made available on the NHS.
A monthly injection of erenumab, the first new migraine drug for 20 years, has been hailed by patients who’ve tried it.
It was approved in Scotland in April but, in a blow to more than 500,000 people, NHS watchdog NICE rejected it in England citing high costs.
The treatment, developed by NHS-funded UK scientists over the last three decades, has been available privately since September at the cost of £386 a month.
In April, erenumab - sold under the brand name Aimovig - was approved by NHS Scotland, but it is not yet available to patients in England
Patients say erenumab - sold under the brand name Aimovig - completely halts the debilitating headaches and nausea which can blight people's lives.
Nathan Gayle, 28, gets around 20 headache days a month.
The Londoner told the BBC: 'When I have a migraine I can't see, any noise gives me excruciating pain, foreign smells hurt, light is a definite no-go, I get really dizzy and I can't stand up.
'I have tried so many types of medications - I've not found anything that can stop it or prevent it. If Aimovig worked, it would change my life.'
Mr Gayle was a classroom assistant but had to quit because he was taking too much sick leave.
He called for erenumab to be made available in England so he can go back to his job.
Erenumab is the first in a new class of drugs which tackles the protein responsible for the pain and nausea associated with a migraine.
The protein - called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) - causes blood vessels intertwined with nerve endings in the head to swell up.
Erenumab blocks that process.
Described as one of the few true 'holy grails' of medical research, an injection to truly tackle migraines is being pursued by some of the world's biggest drugs firms.
Erenumab is the first new migraine treatment since Triptans - drugs which ease the symptoms of migraines but not the cause - were developed in 1997.
It was developed over the last 30 years by Professor Peter Goadsby of King's College London, who gave away the intellectual property to the drug when he published his first studies on CGRP in the 1990s.
Erenumab is made by a partnership between drugs giant Novartis and Amgen, but hot on their heels are three other firms - Teva, Eli Lilly and Alder - who are developing very similar drugs in a bid get a share of a global market worth an estimated £6.5billion a
