ASBMR 2012: Anabolics and post-marketing studies

This year’s American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) conference, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 10–15, had several industry data releases from Big Pharma, notes an analyst at industry specialist GlobalData, who made the observations which follow.
This Expert Insight was written by Michael Leibfried, GlobalData's senior analyst covering Industry Dynamics.

Clinical trial results presented at the meeting primarily revolved around new and existing treatments for osteoporosis, a metabolic disorder in which bone resorption outpaces bone formation, resulting in low bone density and increased risk of fracture. Several big players that presented trial data at ASBMR included Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and UniGene. These competitors within the osteoporosis space are moving in two directions, with the development of both anabolic drugs and biologics. Only Merck’s cathepsin K inhibitor is small-molecule, while both UniGene’s and Eli Lilly’s drugs are human parathyroid hormone therapies that are stimulators of bone formation. Results for Amgen’s late-stage pipeline anabolic drug, AMG 785, were notably absent from ASBMR, they noted.

Several studies from Amgen on Prolia