The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7209 p152
3 August 2002

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The 8th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (more)
Alzheimer's Society (www.alzheimers.org.uk)

Drug that modulates glutamate levels promising for Alzheimer's disease

Memantine (Axura), a non-competitive receptor antagonist that modulates levels of the neurotransmitter glutamate, looks promising for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, new data show.

Memantine is a N-methyl D-aspartate receptor antagonist and is being developed by Forest Laboratories. It is thought to exert a neuroprotective effect on neurons and slows decay when beta-amyloid is present.

In a 52-week multicentre, placebo-controlled study of 252 patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease, those switched to memantine from placebo after 28 weeks showed improvements in cognitive function compared with the projected rate of decline. Treatment with memantine was also found to reduce the costs associated with caring for an Alzheimer's disease patient.

In another study, a combination of memantine and cholinesterase inhibitors was found to be well tolerated in patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, researchers say.

Data were presented at the Alzheimer's Association 8th International Conference on Alzheimer's disease and Related Disorders, held in Stockholm last week.