Skin patch can help Alzheimer’s patients

By Laura MacInnis

ZURICH (Reuters) – Alzheimer’s patients wearing a
once-daily skin patch experience fewer side effects than those
who take the drugs in an oral pill, according to the results of
a six-month drug trial released on Wednesday.

The Exelon transdermal patch developed by Swiss drugmaker
Novartis AG, the first of its kind for sufferers of the
degenerative brain disease, releases medicine into the
bloodstream in a controlled and continuous manner to ensure a
steady dose.

Lead study investigator Bengt Winblad said the patch showed
potential to allow patients to tolerate higher doses of
medicine meant to boost neurotransmitter activity in the brain,
currently available in capsule form.

“The patch represents an important new option for people
with Alzheimer’s disease and their families,” said Winblad, a
professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

“A transdermal patch may prove the best way to deliver
rivastigmine to treat Alzheimer’s,” he added, referring to the
scientific name for Novartis’ Exelon, which has already been
approved in many countries to treat mild to moderate
Alzheimer’s and the dementia associated with Parkinson’s
disease.

The trial, involving 1,195 patients in 21 countries, found
that users of the Exelon patch reported three times less nausea
and vomiting than those swallowing capsules of the drug.

Between 6 and 8 percent of patients reported moderate or
serious redness of the skin over the course of the study,
depending on the dose of the patch they used.

Transdermal patches are also used to deliver other drugs,
including contraceptives, but the Exelon product is the first
designed to treat Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia
which affects about 15 million people worldwide.

More than 70 percent of caregivers responding to a
questionnaire linked to the study said they preferred the patch
because of its ease of use, and because it allowed them to
better monitor treatment compliance.

In a statement released in Switzerland, Novartis said it
expects to seek regulatory approval for the Exelon patch by the
end of this year but offered no other details of its plans.