The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7249 p672
17 May 2003

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Positive results for new osteoporosis treatment

Evidence that teriparatide, a new drug for osteoporosis, stimulates new bone formation and reduces risk of fracture was presented this week.

A study confirmed that teriparatide acts differently from alendronate (Fosamax). The comparison of the two treatments in postmenopausal women showed that bone turnover was significantly increased in the teriparatide group but decreased in the alendronate group. “This study shows that teriparatide has the unique ability to directly stimulate bone formation,” the researchers commented. Alendronate acts by suppressing bone resorption.

A second study demonstrated that teriparatide produces a clinical improvement in postmenopausal osteoporotic women with severe baseline vertebral fractures. After 19 months of treatment, risk of new vertebral fractures was reduced by up to 80 per cent compared with placebo.

Further research concluded that teriparatide increases bone thickness. After 12–24 months of treatment, a study showed that the thickness of the trabecular bone was increased by 15 per cent and the endosteal bone by 22 per cent. All three studies were presented at a recent European Calcified Tissue Society congress in Rome.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Graham Russell from the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre at the University of Oxford, said: “These studies are significant because it is the deterioration of bone architecture that contributes to the weakening of bones and fractures seen in patients with advanced osteoporosis.”

Teriparatide is being developed by Eli Lilly. It stimulates formation of new bone by increasing the number and action of osteoblasts.

A spokeswoman for Eli Lilly told The Journal that an application for a European licence for the drug has been made but details about its launch date are not yet available. Its proposed brand name is Forsteo. The drug was approved in the United States in December 2002 where its brand name is Forteo.