A Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Memantine in Moderate to Severe Alzheimer's Disease

Forest Laboratories

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 3

Conditions

Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type

Treatments

Drug: Placebo

Drug: memantine ER

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Industry

Identifiers

NCT00322153

MEM-MD-50

Details and patient eligibility

About

The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of memantine compared to placebo in outpatients diagnosed with moderate-to-severe dementia of the Alzheimer's type on a concurrent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI).

Full description

Memantine is a therapeutic agent that represents a unique class of Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment options. A once daily (QD) dosing regimen in an AD population would simplify administration for the caregiver. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of modified release memantine taken once daily in outpatients with moderate-to-severe AD on a concurrent AChEI.

Enrollment

677 patients

Sex

All

Ages

50+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Ambulatory patients aged >/= 50 years
Diagnostic evidence of probable Alzheimer's disease consistent with criteria from the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)
Confirmatory magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomographic (CT) scan within the prior 12 months.
Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores >/= 3 and </= 14 at Screening (Visit 1) and Baseline (Visit 2)
Ongoing daily acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) therapy at a stable dose for at least 3 months prior to Screening (Visit 1). It is preferred that patients continue to receive the same AChEI therapy for the duration of the study.

Exclusion criteria

Patients with a modified Hachinski Ischemia Score greater than 4 at Screening.
Patients who have taken memantine within one month of Screening (Visit 1)
Patients who have a known hypersensitivity to memantine, neramexane, rimantadine, or amantadine.
Patients whose AChEI therapy is likely to be interrupted or discontinued during the course of the study.
Patients who are receiving therapy with more than one AChEI.
Patients with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of hydrocephalus, stroke, a space-occupying lesion, cerebral infection, or any clinically significant central nervous system disease other than Alzheimer's disease.
Patients with a DSM-IV Axis I disorder other than Alzheimer's disease, including amnestic disorders, schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, current major depressive episode, psychosis, panic, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Patients who, in the clinician's judgement, are likely to be placed in a nursing home within the next 6 months.
Patients who had evidence of other neurological disorders that included, but were not limited to, stroke, Parkinson's disease, seizure disorder, or head injury with loss of consciousness within the prior 5 years
Patients who had dementia that was complicated by other organic disease
Patients who had dementia complicated by the presence of predominant delusions