An experimental drug appears to reduce the risk of bone fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis better than a placebo and the currently available drug, a new study finds.
In this phase 3 trial funded by the drug's maker, Radius Health, fewer women on the injectable drug abaloparatide had spine fractures (0.58 percent) than women receiving a placebo (4.22 percent) and slightly fewer than those taking a similar injectable drug, teriparatide (Forteo) (0.84 percent).
"If this gets approved, and there is no reason to think it won't, this will be the second drug available for the treatment of high-risk osteoporosis," said lead researcher Dr. Paul Miller of the Colorado Center for Bone Research.
Forteo has been in use for the past 16 years, he said. Abaloparatide works differently from Forteo and improves bone density more than Forteo, Miller said.
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Women taking abaloparatide also had fewer other types of fractures (2.7 percent) than those who got a placebo (4.7 percent) and slightly fewer than those on Forteo (3.3 percent), the researchers found. Miller said many spine fractures are painless. Patients are often unaware they have happened until a doctor measures their height and finds they are up to an inch shorter than before, he said.
Abaloparatide and Forteo are synthetic peptides that help grow and strengthen bone, Miller said.
Along with building bone density, they are the only ones that increase bone quality, he said. "Bone quality is an important aspect of bone strength -- the ability to withstand a break," Miller said.
He predicts that when abaloparatide is on the market, it will compete with Forteo, driving down the price of both drugs.
"I am hoping that having a second drug available, that it will help reduce the cost," he said. "Forteo costs about $2,500 a month if you don't have insurance." Even if a patient is insured, monthly copays can range from $30 to $400. Forteo is covered by Medicare, Miller said.
The report was published Aug. 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A study based on 2010 U.S. Census data estimated that more than 3 million women between the ages of 50 and 69 have osteoporosis. A 60-year-old woman has a 44 percent lifetime risk of fracture due to low bone density.
Source: The Punch News
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