Galantamine-ER for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease

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Author: Ben Seltzer

Published Date December 2009 , Volume 2010:5

Ben Seltzer

Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract: An extended release form of the cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) drug galantamine (galantamine-ER) was developed, chiefly to increase adherence to medication regimes in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Except for predicted differences in (C_max) and t_max, comparable doses of once daily galantamine-ER and regular, immediate release galantamine, (galantamine-IR), are pharmacologically equivalent. A 24-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-and active-controlled, multicenter phase III trial, which compared galantamine-IR, galantamine-ER and placebo in subjects with mild to moderate AD (mini-mental state examination [MMSE] score range, 10 to 24) showed that both formulations of galantamine were significantly better than placebo in terms of cognition, although not with regard to global change. There was no difference in drug-related adverse events between galantamine-ER and galantamine-IR. Since its release onto the market galantamine-ER has enjoyed wide popularity and a recent surveillance study suggests that it has the highest 1-year persistence rate of all the ChEIs.

Keywords: galantamine, cholinesterase inhibitors, Alzheimer’s disease