What is Memantine/Namenda®?

Memantine/Namenda® is a drug approved in October 2003 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. Forest Laboratories Inc., Memantine's U.S. developer, will market the drug under the trade name Namenda®. Memantine was first approved in Germany for treatment of various neurological disorders in 1982, where it is marketed by Merz + Co. as Axura®. Since 2002, it has been approved in the rest of the European Union, where it is marketed by Lundbeck as Ebixa®. Forest Labs anticipates that Memantine/Namenda® will be available in U.S. pharmacies by early 2004. What kind of drug is Memantine/Namenda®? The technical description of Memantine/Namenda® is classified as an uncompetitive low-to-moderate affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, the first Alzheimer drug of this type approved in the United States. It appears to work by regulating the activity of glutamate, one of the brain's specialized messenger chemicals ...