Brief Profile
Memantine – Innovation for Alzheimer Patients
Memantine is the first and only representative of a new class of Alzheimer drugs – a moderate affinity NMDA-receptor antagonist. Memantine has been developed by Merz Pharmaceuticals and is approved in Europe and the USA for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. In addition memantine is available in Mexico and in several South American countries.
Efficacy of Memantine
- Benefit in cognitive and psychomotor functioning
- Benefit in activities of daily living
- Reduction of care dependence
- Excellent tolerability
Memantine produces symptomatic improvements in learning under conditions of tonic NMDA receptor activation in Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to first generation therapies, memantine is likely to show neuroprotective effects at concentrations used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and to slow down disease progression. Read more in the chapters Clinical Studies and Preclinical Data.
Dosage of memantine
The daily dose of memantine is 20 mg. Here you find more detailed information.
Tolerability of memantine
- In studies of memantine, doctors assessed tolerability as good or very good in the vast majority of patients.
- Memantine displays a favorable tolerability profile even in long-term therapy.
- In clinical studies the overall frequency of side effects was similar to placebo (EU SmPC), reported side effects do not exceed 2%.
- Memantine’s metabolism is not influenced by the cytochrome P-450 system. Therefore memantine has a low potential for interactions in these multimorbid patients.
Find more detailed information in the summary of Product Characteristics.
