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Posted on May 04, 2006, 12 p.m.
By Bill Freeman
As a treatment for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, ibandronate (marketed as Boniva) can be given once a month, rather than daily, without any loss in effectiveness, according to a report in The Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. In fact, in some cases, monthly dosing may be more effective.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - As a treatment for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, ibandronate (marketed as Boniva) can be given once a month, rather than daily, without any loss in effectiveness, according to a report in The Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. In fact, in some cases, monthly dosing may be more effective.
Reducing the frequency of ibandronate therapy to once a month could improve treatment adherence, which might ultimately lead to better outcomes, the researchers point out.
In the Monthly Oral iBandronate In LadiEs (MOBILE) study, 1,609 women with osteoporosis were randomly selected to receive ibandronate at a daily dose of 2.5 mg or at monthly doses of 100 or 150 mg. The subjects were followed for 2 years.
All of the treatments produced significant increases in bone thickness at the spine, ranging from 5.0 percent for the once-daily group to 6.6 percent for the 150 mg monthly group, lead author Dr. J-Y Reginster, from the University of Liege in Belgium, and colleagues. The treatments also significantly increased bone thickness in the hips.
Further analysis showed that the 100 mg monthly doses of ibandronate were comparable to the daily dose, whereas the 150 mg monthly dose was superior to the daily dose.
"The recently reported strong preference of patients for a once-monthly bisphosphonate dosing regimen is expected to translate into improved therapeutic adherence and suggests that once-monthly ibandronate dosing could provide additional adherence benefits over current dosing strategies, such as weekly treatment," the authors conclude.
