Vyepti targets a chemical in the brain called calcitonin gene-related peptide, which plays a role in triggering migraine attacks.
The treatment usually costs about $6000 a year but will now cost about $30 per script.
Apprentice electrician and migraine sufferer Jenna Humphries used to experience about 18 migraines per month.
“From being an annoying headache to not being able to leave my bedroom… I would throw up every 20 minutes, tore my stomach lining multiple times from that,” Humphries said.
The 38-year-old tried 15 different medications and natural remedies.
The breakthrough came during a trial of the new preventative treatment eight years ago.
“It was absolutely life-changing,” Humphries said.
“I got one infusion on it and I went for eight months without a migraine, prior to that I don’t remember being migraine free.”
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The Alfred hospital neurologist Richard Stark said they found targeting the specific brain chemical was very important in the way migraines develop.
The infusion is given every three months.
“We are all excited about the treatment options we have now,” Stark said.
Federal health minister Mark Butler said more than 4500 Australian patients with chronic migraines are going to have access to this game changing treatment.
About five million Australians suffer from migraines with about 8 per cent experiencing frequent attacks.
There are two other medications in the same class that are subsidised for chronic sufferers but doctors say this latest listing gives patients more choice.
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