Rivastigmine for Dementia in Parkinson’s Disease
Rivastigmine tartrate (Exelon drug, Novar-tis) has been approved for patients with mild-to-moderate dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Rivastig-mine was previously approved for the treatment of mild-to-moderate dementia of the Alzheimer’s type.
Steven Galson, MD, MPH, Director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, explains that dementia associated with PD differs from dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Until now, however, no treatment had proved effective specifically for dementia associated with PD.
Approximately 0.2% to 0.5% of people over 65 years of age are affected by PD dementia.
This approval of rivastigmine generic was based on the results of a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study.
