UZH team tests Alzheimer's drug against sickle cell anemia

(CONNECT) Researchers led by UZH are currently testing the efficacy and safety of the Alzheimer's drug memantine outside of its approved indication, namely for the treatment of sickle cell anemia. In earlier preclinical studies, the team was already able to show that memantine, which has been used to treat Alzheimer's disease for around 20 years, has a stabilizing effect on red blood cells, according to a statement from UZH. The Phase 2 clinical trial now being conducted should clarify how safe and tolerable it is.

"In the best-case scenario, memantine would be an off-patent, well-tolerated, easy-to-store and very cost-effective drug," says study leader Max Gassmann, summarizing the team's hopes. "This would be particularly important for countries with a high disease burden and very limited resources - for example in Africa or India." It could also replace hydroxyurea for those sickle cell anemia patients who do not tolerate this common drug used to treat this most common genetic disease in the world.

The study has shown that the treatment is well tolerated. Over a period of two to three years, more than 25 laboratory parameters confirmed the safety of the drug. In addition, the clinical benefit is high: the number and duration of hospital stays decreased significantly. There were fewer painful episodes of the disease, especially in children. No serious side effects or treatment-related study discontinuations were observed. The research team is now planning a follow-up study to systematically analyze combination therapies. ce/mm