Conditions: Alzheimer's Disease
Keywords: Alzheimer's Disease Cognitive dysfunction Dementia Galantamine R113675
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 580
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two fixed doses (16mg/day and 24mg/day) of galantamine (a drug for treating dementia) versus placebo for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Detailed description:
This is a randomized (study drug assigned by chance), double-blind (neither the physician nor the patient know the name of the study medication), placebo-controlled, parallel-group study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two fixed doses of galantamine (16 and 24 milligrams per day \[mg/day\]) in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The study consists of a 4-week screening period during which all patients will receive placebo, and a 24-week double-blind treatment period during which patients will receive placebo, galantamine 16 mg/day, or galantamine 24 mg/day. For patients receiving galantamine treatment, the starting dose is 8 mg/day and increases at 4-week intervals in increments of 8 mg/day. The primary measures of effectiveness are the change from baseline to the end of the study (week 24) in the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Japan cognitive subscale (ADAS-J cog) and the Clinician's Interview-Based Impression of Change plus - Japan (CIBIC plus-J). Safety assessments include the incidence of adverse events, clinical laboratory tests, vital signs, electrocardiograms (ECGs), and physical examination findings. The study hypothesis is that galantamine will be effective in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Study drug taken orally twice a day.

Arms:
arm 1: None arm 2: None arm 3: None

Interventions: intervention 1: Placebo intervention 2: Galantamine 16 mg/day intervention 3: Galantamine 24 mg/day
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Form= tablet, route= oral use. Corresponding placebo tablets confirmed to be indistinguishable from the galantamine tablets will be administered for 24 weeks. intervention 2: Type= exact number, number= 8, 16, unit= mg/day, form= tablet, route= oral use. Patients will receive 8 mg galantamine daily for the first 4 weeks, and 16 mg galantamine daily for the remaining 20 weeks. intervention 3: Type= exact number, number= 8, 16, 24, unit= mg/day, form= tablet, route= oral use. Patients will receive 8 mg galantamine daily for the first 4 weeks, then 16 mg galantamine daily for the following 4 weeks, and 24 mg galantamine daily for the remaining 16 weeks.

Protocol document: