Beck, Lenox & Stolzer Estate Planning and Elder Law is always excited about passing along information that helps our clients. We understand that there could be a promising new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease called Adlarity. It is a form of donepezil and is marketed as an alternative to the oral medication. The skin patch was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this year, while the pill form has been in use since the 1990s, says Seasons’ recent article entitled “Trial results show promise for new Alzheimer’s skin patch.”
The skin patch, according to a statement from Corium, the drug’s Michigan-based manufacturer, showed an equal daily exposure of donepezil with weekly application as a standard daily pill. This implies patients can get the same level of treatment with the weekly patch application as they could taking the oral medication daily.
Corium also touts the gastrointestinal benefits of not needing to take the daily pill and claims a “favorable overall gastrointestinal side effect profile” with the patch. Dr. Pierre N. Tariot, MD, director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, said the results show the patch could be a safe alternative to oral medication.
“The doses of the once-weekly donepezil transdermal system were equivalent to oral donepezil on a milligram-per-day basis, and the safety profile of the transdermal system formulation, including the lower overall incidence of GI side effects, support its use in treating patients with dementia of the Alzheimer’s type,” Tariot said in a statement.
Marketed as a first-of-its-kind treatment, Adlarity uses proprietary transdermal technology known as Corplex. The small-molecule technology is in use in several commercially available products, notably Crest Whitestrips. Corium is looking to release Adlarity in a few months.
Two other Alzheimer’s medications may be on the way. Quince Therapeutics, formerly known as Cortexyme, is testing its COR588 oral medication, a treatment designed to block the growth of the toxic protein gingipains, which is a protein associated with Alzheimer’s as well as gum disease.
In addition, Alzheon’s ALZ-801 treatment showed promising results in an interim analysis of Phase 2 testing, lowering p-tau 181 levels in patients. P-tau 181 is a marker associated with Alzheimer’s. The oral agent has now moved on to Phase 3 testing, according to Alzheimer’s News Today.
A promising new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, and more to come! This is exciting news to our attorneys at Beck, Lenox & Stolzer because we deal with the effects of Alzheimer’s in many of the families we meet with.
Reference: Seasons (Aug. 18, 2022) “Trial results show promise for new Alzheimer’s skin patch”
