|
Over the last year there have been a number of significant
research findings in the area of Alzheimer's disease. This
is one of the most challenging areas left for the pharmaceutical
industry.
None of the current drugs on the market are a cure, and
they often lose effectiveness over time. Nevertheless, the
work continues. The biggest breakthrough, which seems to
have been the herald of more recent news, came from Amgen
in October 1999.
The current drugs on the market, Eisai and Pfizer's Aricept
(donepezil), Novartis' Exelon (rivastigmine) and Warner-Lambert's
Cognex (tacrine), have limited effectiveness. Exelon has
been marketed in Europe since 1997, but only received FDA
approval for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's
on April 24th.
Novartis has demonstrated its efficacy in three key areas
of the disease - daily living, behaviour and cognition -
in trials involving more than 5,000 patients.
The field of Alzheimer's research is scattered with heroic
failures, most recently Bayer's ProMem (metrifonate) and
Aventis' Viviq (propentofylline). Clinical trials are notoriously
difficult due to the subjective nature of the demonstration
of effectiveness.
This has not stopped active drug development in the area,
however. IMS Health's R&D
focus has details on a number of products in active
trials, including:
| Product |
Organisation(s) |
Status
in Alzheimer's |
| Reminyl
(galantamine) |
Shire/Johnson
& Johnson |
Approved
in Sweden, pending in the remainder of EU and the US |
| Akatinol
(memantine) |
Merz/Neurobiological
Technologies |
Phase
III (marketed for 'dementia syndrome' in Germany) |
| Premarin
(conjugated estrogens) |
American
Home Products |
Phase
III |
| Vioxx
(rofecoxib) |
Merck
& Co |
Phase
III |
| TAK
147 |
Takeda |
Phase
III |
| Neotrofin
(leteprinim) |
NeoTherapeutics |
Phase
II/III |
| Solian
(xaliproden) |
Sanofi-Synthelabo
|
Phase
IIb |
| rasagiline |
Teva/Lundbeck |
Phase
IIa |
| Celebrex
(celecoxib) |
Pharmacia/Pfizer |
Phase
II |
Source:
IMS Health R&D focus
The above table shows that a number of products
marketed for other indications are also being investigated
in Alzheimer's. Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp announced the
results of an analysis of 50,000 patients taking cholesterol-lowering
drugs in 1999: it revealed that Mevacor (lovastatin,
Merck & Co) and Pravachol (pravastatin, Sankyo, Bristol-Myers
Squibb) were associated with decreased rates of Alzheimer's.
The two statins led to a 60-73% drop in the rate of Alzheimer's
compared to a total patient population or those taking other
medications. Nymox said the findings needed to be verified,
but represented a "potentially new and exciting approach"
to the disease.
IMS Health's Pharmacast
& Beyond service has analysed the Alzheimer's market
in Germany. Aricept has had the greatest impact, growing
the entire market and decreasing sales of Cognex while suffering
little from the launch of Exelon. These were the only three
N7D drugs available in Germany at the time of the report.
At the end of 1998, Aricept had an 80% market share, with
Exelon at 4%. P&B forecasts that the German Alzheimer's
market will grow by 13.8% per annum (10 year CAGR) to reach
DM96.7 million (approximately $45 million) in 2008, driven
by the launch of Reminyl and the availability of new diagnostic
tests, plus an ageing population.
| Available
to buy and download now from IMS HEALTH: |
| Company
Profiles |
|
American Home Products - Bristol-Myers Squibb - Eisai
- Johnson & Johnson - Lundbeck - Merck & Co - Novartis
- Pfizer - Sankyo - Sanofi-Synthelabo - Takeda - Teva
- Warner-Lambert |
| Sales
Data - by therapy area |
| Anti-Alzheimer
Products (N7D) |
| Forecasts
and Analysis - by therapy area |
| Alzheimer's
Disease market (for Germany) |
|
