Alimta regimen didn't meet goal in study

Eli Lilly and Co. said Thursday a drug regimen including its Alimta therapy did not improve the survival of lung cancer patients in a late-stage clinical trial.

Lilly said patients who were treated with a combination of Alimta, Avastin, and the chemotherapy drug carboplatin lived for 12.6 months after the start of treatment. Patients who were treated with chemotherapy and Avastin, a drug that is made by Roche, had median survival of 13.4 months. There was not a statistically significant difference between the results of the two regimens.

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FDA approves new drug indication for FORTEO

Eli Lilly and Company announced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new use for its osteoporosis drug FORTEO to treat osteoporosis associated with sustained, systemic glucocorticoid therapy in men and women at high risk of fracture. Glucocorticoid therapy is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis, leading to bone loss and an increased risk for fracture, according to a statement from Eli Lilly.

Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis, or GIO, is associated with chronic use of glucocorticoid medications, which are often prescribed for inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and obstructive pulmonary disease. Data indicate that glucocorticoid medications are used by up to three out of every 100 adults over age 50.

Approximately 50 percent of individuals who are prescribed chronic glucocorticoid therapy will eventually have an osteoporotic fracture. The use of glucocorticoid medications can lead to a reduction in bone formation, the company said said. FORTEO has been shown to counter this effect by stimulating bone formation.

In the course of the FDA’s review of the new indication, Lilly provided data from a clinical study which showed that in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis, FORTEO increased bone mineral density (BMD) from baseline to 18 months of treatment by 7.2 percent at the lumbar spine, 3.6 percent at the total hip, and 3.7 percent at the femoral neck.

“Until now, physicians and patients had only one class of approved therapy for the treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis,” said Kenneth G. Saag, M.D., MSc, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. “The approval of teriparatide for this new indication offers healthcare providers and patients a new treatment option that effectively increases bone mineral density in a different way than anti-resorptives.”

Source : www.modernmedicine.com

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