FK-960 [N-(4-acetyl-1-piperazinyl)-p-fluorobenzamide monohydrate], a novel putative anti-dementia drug of piperazine derivative, ameliorates memory deficits in a variety of animal models of dementia in rats and monkeys, and also augments long-term potentiation (LTP) in the mossy fiber-CA3 pathway in guinea-pig hippocampal slices. FK-960 acts as Serotonin modulator. FK-960 had been in phase II clinical trials by Fujisawa Pharmaceutical (now Astellas) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However this study was suspended. In 2003 Phase-II for Alzheimer's disease in USA was discontinued and in Jul 2004 - Phase-II for Cognition disorders in Europe.

Smilagenin (also known as PYM50028 and Cogane) is a constituent of Jamaican sarsaparilla (Smilax ornata) and is a neuroprotectant that has been evaluated in Phase II clinical trials in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. On 27 September 2011, the European Commission to Phytopharm plc, United Kingdom, granted orphan designation for smilagenin for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The details of the mechanism of action of smilagenin are incomplete but involve the upregulation of neurotrophic factors including Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

FK-960 [N-(4-acetyl-1-piperazinyl)-p-fluorobenzamide monohydrate], a novel putative anti-dementia drug of piperazine derivative, ameliorates memory deficits in a variety of animal models of dementia in rats and monkeys, and also augments long-term potentiation (LTP) in the mossy fiber-CA3 pathway in guinea-pig hippocampal slices. FK-960 acts as Serotonin modulator. FK-960 had been in phase II clinical trials by Fujisawa Pharmaceutical (now Astellas) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However this study was suspended. In 2003 Phase-II for Alzheimer's disease in USA was discontinued and in Jul 2004 - Phase-II for Cognition disorders in Europe.