Once-daily memantine: a guide to its use in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease in the EU.

In the EU, once-daily memantine 20 mg (Axura(®), Ebixa(®)) is an option for the management of patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (AD). In pooled clinical trials and studies in the clinical practice setting, memantine 20 mg/day improved cognition, functional ability and behavioural symptoms in this patient population. The beneficial effects of memantine are associated with delays in the need for full-time care, which were predicted to result in cost savings relative to standard care in recent cost-utility analyses in patients with moderate to severe AD conducted in EU countries. Memantine is well tolerated, with an adverse event profile that is similar to that with placebo.