Memantine (Namenda, Forest) is the newest medication to receive FDA approval for the treatment of Alzheimer?s disease and the first to be approved with a moderate-to-severe indication. All previously approved Alzheimer?s disease treatments belong to the cholinesterase inhibitor class and are approved with a mild-to-moderate indication. Memantine has been used for more than 10 years in Germany and features a novel mechanism of action: N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonism. It has been shown to be effective in double-blind, placebo-controlled trials as monotherapy and in combination therapy with the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil in patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer?s disease.
David Calabrese of OptumRx Talks Top Three Drugs in Pipeline, Industry Trends in Q2
July 1st 2020In this week's episode of Tuning Into The C-Suite podcast, MHE's Briana Contreras chatted with David Calabrese, R.Ph, MHP, who is senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer of pharmacy care services company, OptumRx. David is also a member of Managed Healthcare Executives’ Editorial Advisory Board. During the discussion, he shared the OptumRx Quarter 2 Drug Pipeline Insights Report of 2020. Some of the information shared includes the three notable drugs currently being reviewed or those that have been recently approved by the FDA. Also discussed were any interesting industry trends to watch for.
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