Tag: cognitive function

Food for Thought: IQWiG Updates Report on Alzheimer Drugs

Galantamine and transdermal rivastigmine plaster can delay loss of cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, Germany’s Institute for Quality and Efficacy in Health Care (IQWiG) said in a preliminary report published on its website. In 2007, IQWiG had issued a negative report on the benefit of donezepil, galantamine and rivastigmine, however in 2009 the institute initiated an update, adding additional published and unpublished studies for the appraisal of galantamine and including the rivastigmine plaster which entered the German market in 2007.

IQWiG now states that galantamine at higher doses has a positive effect on cogitation and retentiveness of female patients with mild and moderate AD. However, it added that there was no evidence of improvement of daily routine abilities or psychopathological symptoms such as unrest and depression in both male and female patients. In addition, IQWiG notes that patients often dropped out of the study because of side effects such as nausea, vomitus or diarrhea. It also states that it did not find evidence supporting a galantamine treatment for more than 12 months.

For the rivastigmine plaster, IQWiG said it found hints that the 10 square centimeter plaster improves cognition of patients under 75 years of age; however it states that the data were not resilient enough to support an assessment as “proof of efficacy.”

IQWiG said that both manufacturers, the pharma companies Janssen-Cilag and Novartis, provided all study data requested by IQWiG, including unpublished data comprising 48% of study patients. Juergen Windeler, head of IQWiG said in a statement that this was further underlining the necessity to introduce mandatory publication of clinical study data.