title: Galantamine-ER for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.
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.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, V A Boston Healthcare System, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. bseltzer@partners.org
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Seltzer
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004309:Double Bind Interaction; D005702:Galantamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D005702:Galantamine