1341 - Effects of IncobotulinumtoxinA in an Animal Model of Trigeminal Pain

Friday, February 20, 2026

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM AST

Co-Author(s)

WD

Wojciech Danysz, PhD

Scientific Expert, Nonclinical Science and Operations
Merz Therapeutics GmbH
Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany
AG

Andreas Gravius, PhD

Sr. Director, Nonclinical Sciences and Operations
Merz Therapeutics GmbH
Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany
KF

Klaus Fink, PhD

Head of Neurotoxin and Biotechnology Development
Merz Therapeutics GmbH
Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany

Presenting Author(s)

JN

Jens Nagel, MD

Director Chronic Pain, Nonclinical Science & Operations
Merz Therapeutics GmbH
Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany

Submitter(s)

JL

Jennifer LoBraico

Jenny LoBraico
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States

Objectives: Botulinum toxin (BoNT) has been registered beyond muscle related indications for the treatment of migraine and is under consideration for further pain conditions. Although BoNT has been extensively studied, certain aspects underlying observed analgesia like effects of systemic exposure, the comparative efficacy of pretreatment versus therapeutic intervention and the duration of action remain underexplored.

Design: Above mentioned aspects have been addressed in the present study employing a trigeminal pain model in rats which is based infraorbital nerve chronic constriction injury (IoN‐CCI)(infra-orbital nerve ligation – ION) and which is considered to be relevant for migraine. Effects of incobotulinumtoxinA (Inco-A) on pain related behaviour were analyzed by measuring tactile allodynia. Four consecutive experiments were performed to address the following aspects: dose-response effect, systemic exposure effect, therapeutic vs preventive effect, and duration of effect.

Results: The results on tactile allodynia indicate (1) a dose response related to Inco-A treatment, (2) systemic effect of Inco-A was restricted to application in the contralateral vibrissal pad which produced modest effect at one time point, (3) similar effects after preemptive and therapeutic treatment, and (4) antiallodynic action of Inco-A lasts about 50 days.

Conclusions: The results indicate that after treatment with Inco-A, a robust anti-allodynic effect is produced by injection in the distal projection field of the nerve lesion. The contribution of systemic exposure to the observed effects in the applied model is considered negligible if present at all. Inco-A shows robust effects on established neuropathic pain and an intervention to block pain establishment is not required for the effect. Also, duration of antiallodynic effect of Inco-A is long lasting.