More recently, the medical website reported, a combination of two other Alzheimer's drugs, Namzaric, has also been approved, bringing the total of approved medications to just five.

These include, according to the Alzheimer's Association:


1. donepezil, brand name Aricept, in 1996
2. galantamine, brand name Razadyne, in 2001
3. memantine, brand name Namenda, in 2003
4. rivastigmine, brand name Exelon, in 2000
5. donepezil and memantine, brand name Namzaric, in 2014

According to Cummings, these are "four cholinesterase inhibitors (tacrine [Cognex, now discontinued in the U.S., according to MedicineNet], donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine) and an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor AD antagonist (memantine).

There are also a number of repurposed blood pressure and ADHD drugs used to reduce symptoms, Cummings stated to WebMD. But he is encouraged, he noted, by the fact that at present there are 107 different medications undergoing human trials.

That's good because it is likely, unless some cure for the underlying cause of the disease is found, a "cocktail" approach will be the best way to battle the symptoms of the ailment. “We’re going to need combinations,” James Hendrix, Ph.D., director of global science initiatives at the Alzheimer's Association, told the site last month.

The bottom line is that this research is driven by a huge potential market. The costs associated with the disease in the U.S. alone are running $203 billion now, and expected to hit $1 trillion by 2050.

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