New Roche, GlaxoSmithKline study shows women with osteoporosis say Boniva is more convenient

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, March 17 - Roche and GlaxoSmithKline announced Friday the results of an international study that demonstrates more than 70% of women with postmenopausal osteoporosis who expressed a preference, preferred once-monthly dosing with Boniva (ibandronate sodium) over weekly dosing with Fosamax (alendronate sodium).

The majority of patients found Boniva more convenient than Fosamax, officials said in a company news release.

In the study, the most common reason women gave for their preference was that one tablet a month is an easier treatment regimen to follow for a long period of time. Faced with no immediate symptoms from osteoporosis, half to nearly two-thirds of women quit their daily or weekly osteoporosis medication within one year, officials said.

Boniva, a bisphosphonate, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in March 2005.

The study will be presented for the first time at the Sixth European Congress on Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis.

"This new study confirms that women view the once-monthly dosing of Boniva to be convenient and easier to follow over the long term. This is important because fracture protection can only be achieved if women stay on therapy," Ronald Emkey, lead investigator of the study, said in the release.

The study was a six-month, prospective, randomized, open-label crossover trial that included 350 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis who took both once-monthly oral Boniva (150 mg) and once-weekly oral alendronate (70 mg) each for three consecutive months during the study.

By the end of the trial, 299 of the women reporting a preference chose the Boniva regimen (70.6%). A total of 6.9% of patients did not have a preference for either treatment regimen.

Of those reporting on convenience, 76.6% found Boniva more convenient than weekly alendronate, officials said, adding that 11.7% found both treatments equally convenient. The efficacy of the regimens was not assessed in the study.

Roche and GlaxoSmithKline co-promote Boniva for the treatment and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis in all countries except Japan. The Roche and GlaxoSmithKline collaboration is focused on bringing new osteoporosis therapies to market as quickly as possible.

Roche is a Basel, Switzerland, research-driven health care company with a focus on pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. GlaxoSmithKline is a London-based pharmaceutical and health care company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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