Safety and efficacy of osteoporosis drug highlighted in new studies

Denosumab can reverse bone loss and lower wrist fracture rates without increasing the risk of infection in women with osteoporosis, according to research presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting.
Sold under the brand names Prolia and Xgeva, the dug is given as a twice-yearly injection, and was recently assessed to see if it increased the risk of infection.
Data from 136 people was analysed: 36 people were on a combination of biologics and denosumab, 50 people were on biologic agents alone and 50 people were on denosumab alone.
Those who were treated with denosumab, either on its own or in combination with biologic or non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, did not seem to have any significant increased risk of infections.
Another trial involving 2,207 patients found that the drug was able to reverse cortical bone loss and increase bone mineral density, lowering wrist fracture rates after five years of treatment.
“In untreated women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, cortical bone density at the radius declined significantly,” explains Dr Jacques Brown from the second study. “Denosumab treatment for three years fully reversed this bone loss, and two additional years of treatment resulted in further bone mineral density gains that translated to significantly lower wrist fracture rates.”

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Image credit: Matthew Faltz