Alzheimer Disease

Drug to treat late-stage disease takes step toward U.S. market

Published in Medical Letter on the CDC and FDA, October 19th, 2003

A drug long used in Germany to ease the ravages of Alzheimer disease took a step toward the U.S. market when government scientists backed memantine as the first treatment specifically for late stages of the mind-stealing disease.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA)advisers struggled with how much benefit memantine actually offers, and if it could give false hope to families of the most severely ill patients.

"I believe this to be a very small effect size," the panel's chairwoman, Dr. Claudia Kawas of the University of California, Irvine, cautioned. "The entire committee has certain concerns."

When it comes to benefit...

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Source: Medical Letter on the CDC and FDA (2003-10-19)

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