[New development in bisphosphonate treatment. Review of the preventive effect of minodronic acid on fracture in Japanese patients with osteoporosis].

Minodronic acid, a novel bisphosphonate, is one of the osteoporosis medications that has a potent inhibitive action on bone resorption. In this study, we performed additional analyses of the results on the already-reported phase III fracture study using minodronic acid, and reviewed the efficacy in elderly patients aged 75 years or older. The results show that minodronic acid suppressed the occurrence of vertebral fracture in patients aged 75 years or older at higher risk of fracture, in the same way as in patients aged less than 75 years. The phase III fracture study using minodronic acid was the first study that verified the preventive effect on vertebral fracture versus placebo in Japanese patients with osteoporosis. The results of the study compared favorably with placebo-controlled large-scale clinical studies using other agents that were conducted overseas.