Injected Drug May Help Fight Osteoporosis in Women

New Drug – Decrease Risk of Bone Fractures – Women with Osteoporosis

A latest study has found a new drug which is said to decrease the risk of bone fractures in postmenopausal women having osteoporosis, much better than a placeboand the drug is presently made available. In this stage three trial supported by the maker of the drug, Radius Health, less women on the injectable drug abaloparatide had spine fracture than women who received a placebo and somewhat less than those taking the same injectable drug, teriparatide.

In the case of postmenopausal women having osteoporosis with the risk of fracture, regular injection of the drug abaloparatide for a period of 18 months significantly could reduce the risk of new vertebral as well as non-vertebral fractures when compared with placebo as per a study in the August 16 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association - JAMA.

Osteoporosis is linked with considerable economic, social and public health problems and based on the 2010 U.S. Census data; the study has estimated the prevalence of osteoporosis in women between 50 to 69 years, at 3.4 million. It has also been assessed that the lifetime danger of osteoporotic fracture for a 60 year old women is said to be 44%. Moreover, therapies are essential in the prevention of osteoporotic fractures.

Abaloparatide/Forteo – Synthetic Peptides

Lead researcher, Dr Paul Miller of the Colorado Centre for Bone Research had informed that if they get the approval then this would be the second drug which would be available in treating high-risk osteoporosis. He believes that Forteo had been used for the past 16 years.

 Abaloparatide tends to work differently from Forteo and recovers bone density more than Forteo. Miller also mentioned that several spine fractures are painless and the patients are frequently unaware about it till a doctor tends to measure their height and finds that they are up to an inch shorter than before.

Miller informs that Abaloparatide and Forteo are both synthetic peptides which seem to assist in growth and strengthen the bone.He adds that together with the construction of bone density, they are also the only one which tends to increase the quality of the bone and bone quality is an important feature of bone power, the capacity to survive a breakdown.

Need of Large Head-to-Head Trail between Forteo/Abaloparatide

He envisages that when abaloparatide is on the market it would compete with Forteo, bringing down the price of both the drugs. Miller had informed that he is hoping to have a second drug available which would help in reducing the cost.

The cost of Forteo is around $2,500 a month if one does not have insurance. And if a patient is insured, the monthly co-pays could range from $30 to $400. Forteo is said to be covered by Medicare.The director of the Centre for Pituitary and Neuroendocrine Disorders at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, Dr Caroline Messer is keen for further study.

She informed that there is a need of a large head-to-head trail between Forteo and abaloparatide to actually see which drug could be better. She added that everybody wants to know if this is inferior or superior to Forteo. This being an early study, it shows more bone building and fewer fractures than Forteo though whether it would replace that drug is still uncertain.

An editorial associated with the study stated that which drug is selected may be less important than recognizing and beginning an accepted treatment.