BASEL, SWITZERLAND — May 2, 2002 — More than half (56 percent) of Alzheimer's disease patients who had failed to show sustained benefit from treatment with Aricept® (donepezil) therapy may benefit from treatment with Exelon® (rivastigmine, Novartis), according to a new multicenter study (1) published in last month's issue of Current Medical Research and Opinion. Both drugs are members of a class called cholinesterase inhibitors, currently the only type of drug approved for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD).
The findings suggest a new approach to treating AD: switching to another cholinesterase inhibitor if one agent fails. Switching therapies is common in managing many diseases, but not currently in the treatment of AD because many physicians assume – apparently incorrectly – that all cholinesterase inhibitor drugs are similar. If a patient fails on one agent, it is often assumed another agent would be equally ineffective, so cholinesterase inhibitor therapy is discontinued all together.
"Our findings show switching patients from one cholinesterase inhibitor to another – in this case, from donepezil to Exelon – can be a valuable therapeutic strategy, offering renewed hope to physicians, AD patients and caregivers alike," said Sophie Auriacombe, MD, the lead author of the study at the Clinique St. Augustin in Bordeaux, France. She and her colleagues decided to study switching patients to Exelon because "it has a number of characteristics that make it an especially attractive treatment for AD," she said.
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