New Glaxo osteoporosis drug for US

PHARMACEUTICAL giant GlaxoSmithKline revealed today that it has applied for approval to begin selling a new version of its osteoporosis drug Boniva in the US.

The drug, developed in conjunction with GSK‘s Swiss partner Roche, is already on sale in Europe and a version of it is also available in the US. The latest version, for women who have gone through the menopause, only has to be taken once a month by patients.

Analysts say the market potential of the new new drug is significant and will give GSK and Roche a stronger position in the vast, fast-growing osteoporosis market in the US.

Research suggests that as many as one in two women and one in eight men over the age of 50 will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture during their lifetime.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved a version of Boniva that needs to be taken daily, in May last year. GSK and Roche have been developing and promoting Boniva together since 2001.

GSK said it is working at developing osteoporosis drugs that patients find more convenient to take. Many currently available treatments, including Boniva, restrict patients' activities before and after taking their medicine, such as insisting that they do not eat for a certain period of time and even that they don‘t lie down.

The company said it hoped that a version of the drug that patients don‘t have to take as often as once a day would be well received by the market.

According to the US National Osteoporosis Foundation, drugs should be considered for women with relatively undeveloped osteoporosis since by the time the condition is detected it is often too late and many women already have full-blown osteoporosis.

Women's risk of developing osteoporosis increases as they enter menopause and lose the bone-protecting effects of oestrogen. Better screening will pick up the condition earlier and ensure that people can start taking drugs to slow or minimise its effect.