FDA Panel Recommends Approval of Memantine for Alzheimer's

An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has unanimously but reluctantly urged the agency to approve the drug Namenda® (memantine) as a treatment for moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease.

Namenda is a member of a new class of Alzheimer's drugs called N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. These drugs work differently than acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, the only drugs currently approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer's.

Researchers believe that memantine blocks NMDA receptors from becoming overexcited by the abnormal transmission of glutamate. Such an abnormality may help cause Alzheimer's disease given glutamate's central role in learning and memory.

The recommendation by the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee takes Namenda a step closer to gaining marketing approval from the FDA.

Despite the approval recommendation, some panel members expressed doubts about the drug's benefits and expressed concern about the possibility that it could raise false hopes for Alzheimer sufferers and their families.

Other sources: Neurobiological Technologies, Washington Post