Novartis compares Exelon and Aricept

Novartis is to conduct the first large-scale study, called EXCEED(Exelon comparison of efficacy versus donepezil), that will compare the efficacy of Exelon (rivastigmine 3mg-12mg) to Eisai/Pfizer's rival cholinesterase inhibitor Aricept (donepezil) in patients with Alzheimer's disease. These are the two most widely-prescribed drugs for this indication.

The trial will evaluate three key symptoms of AD - activities of daily living, and behavioral and cognitive functions, such as long- and short-term memory loss - as well as comparing the safety and tolerability profiles of both drugs. It will also evulate the potential of both agents to reduce the requirement for concomitant psychotropic medication.

Novartis claims that Exelon differs from other currently-available AD treatments because it inhibits not only acetylcholinesterase but also butyrylcholinesterase, which is also associated with impaired cholinergic neurotransmission in the disease. The company hopes that this profile will allow it to show superiority to Aricept in the trial, which is due to generate preliminary results in 2003.