Dementia
Dementia is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative condition that afflicts over 35 million patients worldwide1 — including more than five million sufferers in the United States. The annual cost of caring for and treating dementia patients worldwide is estimated to be $315 billion. In the United States, the treated population is forecast to increase from the current 2.2 million to nearly 3.5 million by 2020, driven by an aging population, as well as increasing diagnosis and awareness. The societal and economic burden associated with dementia will continue to grow with the number of dementia sufferers expected to triple by 2050. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease or for most of the other diseases that cause dementia. Progression of disease leads to dependence on caregivers and family.
Treatment of Dementia
Dementia symptoms include progressive cognitive impairment and behavioral problems. Symptomatic treatment offers relief to patients and caregivers. Current symptomatic treatments include memantine, an NMDA receptor antagonist (NMDAr), and the cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs), donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine. These drugs are each approved in the US, Europe and most world markets for the treatment of dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Combined sales of these products were $6 billion in 2008, with average annual growth of 23 percent over the last five years.2
While combination therapy of memantine and cholinesterase inhibitors has been demonstrated effective for treatment of dementia, there is no fixed-dose combination product available today.
Adamas' Dementia Program
Adamas is developing ADS-8703 as the first and only fixed-dose combination product for the symptomatic treatment of dementia. ADS-8703 is designed to improve efficacy, improve compliance and reduce the need for dose titration.
1 World Alzheimer's Report 2009, Alzheimer's Disease International
2 IMS Health, company reports
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