A large clinical trial of a new osteoporosis drug found that it stimulates bone growth and prevents fractures at least as well as the only other such drug on the market. The new drug, expected to win approval from federal regulators, would offer another much-needed treatment for some of the 10 million Americans, 80 percent of them women, who have a disease that weakens bones and often leads to years of pain, disability and early death.
Doctors who care for people with osteoporosis said they hoped the new drug would also spur price competition in an arena that has had none. The new drug would compete with a medicine made by Eli Lilly, called Forteo, that costs $2,550 for a four-week supply. A spokeswoman for Radius, the maker of the new drug, said it was the company's policy not to discuss price.
Experts agree that new drugs are urgently needed for this debilitating disease. People with osteoporosis have bones that are fragile and break easily. Bone is naturally lost with age. But osteoporosis is an extreme, abnormal bone loss that can cause devastating fractures, particularly of the spine and hip.
