Pizotifen Tablet 0.5 mg, 1.5 mg Suppliers & Bulk Manufacturers

Available Forms: Tablets

Available Strengths: 0.5 mg, 1.5 mg

Reference Brands: Mosegor (EU), Sandomigran (EU)

Category: Neurology

Pizotifen is a serotonin (5-HT2) receptor antagonist with antihistamine properties used for the prevention of migraine and cluster headaches. It helps reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks but is not intended for acute treatment. Available mainly as 0.5 mg and 1.5 mg oral tablets, it works by blocking serotonin activity in the brain to prevent blood vessel changes that trigger headaches.

Product Description:

Pizotifen is a benzocycloheptene 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, structurally related to cyproheptadine and to the tricyclic antidepressants, with marked antihistamine and some anticholinergic activity. It is used only for migraine prevention — it has no role in treating an attack already under way. How it reduces attack frequency has never been fully explained; blocking serotonin-mediated changes in cranial vessel tone was the original rationale.

It is usually started at a low dose at night and increased gradually, with benefit judged after a few months. The adverse effects that limit use are drowsiness, which is why it is taken at bedtime, and increased appetite with weight gain — often a reason patients stop, and particularly relevant in adolescents. It has also been used in children, where other preventives are less well studied. Anticholinergic effects make it unsuitable in angle-closure glaucoma and urinary retention.

Sourcing notes. An old, inexpensive drug registered in parts of Europe, Australia and several Asian and Latin American markets, but never in the US. Evidence is weaker than for propranolol, amitriptyline or topiramate, so its market is shrinking. Supply of the malate salt is narrow. For buyers, registration in the destination market is the first question, and paediatric demand is often the main driver.