Long-term use of Reminyl beneficial

Dementia patients who receive more than 36 months' therapy with Shire Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson's Reminyl (galantamine) may be able to stay at home for longer compared to those on treatment for shorter periods of time, according to a new retrospective study.

The analysis primarily included 596 patients who originally participated in one of three randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of Reminyl and their subsequent open-label follow-up studies. All subjects lived at home at entry into the clinical trials, with some of the patients in the study observed for up to seven years.

Results showed that, three years after entering the original clinical trial, 92.5% of patients who had received continuous Reminyl therapy were still at home compared to 65% of subjects treated for 24-36 months, 48% of patients receiving the drug for 12-24 months and 54% of those treated with Reminyl for 12 months or less. Further examination of the data indicated that long-term treatment with the drug was associated with a 27% relative risk reduction for institutionalization for each additional year of Reminyl treatment.