Implications of co-morbidity for etiology and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases with multifunctional neuroprotective-neurorescue drugs; ladostigil.

The recent therapeutic approach in which drug candidates are designed to possess diverse pharmacological properties and act on multiple targets has stimulated the development of several multifunction drugs. These include ladostigil (TV3326) [(N-propargyl-(3R) aminoindan-5yl)-ethyl methyl carbamate], which combines the pharmacophore-neuroprotective effects of rasagiline, a selective monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B inhibitor, with the cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitory activity of rivastigmine or iron chelating moiety such as M30. In the case of M30 the pharmacophore of brain permeable iron chelator VK-28 plus the MAO inhibitor-neuroprotective propargylamine moiety of rasagiline are combined in a single molecule as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body disease, and Parkinson's disease with dementia.