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May 28, 2008

Study: Amgen's bone density drug is effective

Amgen Inc., the biotechnology company that runs a plant in West Greenwich, said its experimental drug denosumab was more effective than Merck & Co.'s Fosamax at improving women's bone density in a study.

Denosumab, a twice-yearly injection, increased bone density at the hip by 3.5 percent, compared with 2.5 percent for weekly Fosamax pills, according to a one-year study released today at the European Symposium on Calcified Tissue in Barcelona.

Amgen is counting on denosumab, its most advanced drug in development, to offset the sales declines for Aranesp and Epogen, its top-selling anemia medicines linked at high doses to risk of heart attack, stroke and death. The Thousand Oaks, California-based company may generate $3 billion a year in denosumab sales if the drug is approved to treat osteoporosis, analysts say.

Posted by John Kostrzewa  at 12:48 PM | Permalink

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Posted by: Shirley DeBoer at May 28, 2008 4:28 PM

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