The reason for the mortality difference is unclear, Dr. Watts said. "This was not an end point in the main trail and only significant in a small subgroup of high risk patients. It’s clear that women who fracture have decreased survival, so it’s logical that preventing fracture would reduce mortality."
"Our analyses highlight the consistency of the antifracture efficacy of denosumab across subjects with differences in a variety of major risk factors for fractures at baseline. Our analyses suggests that denosumab reduces both new vertebral and hip fractures, regardless of the underlying risk and that the higher absolute fracture risk observed in the higher-risk subgroups is associated with greater absolute risk reduction. These analyses add to the evidence that denosumab is an effective option for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis," Dr. Boonen and his associates concluded.
The study was funded by Amgen Inc. Dr. Boonen has received funding for serving as a trial investigator and as a member of the steering committee for Amgen, as well as consulting and lecture fees from the company. He is also senior clinical investigator of the Fund for Scientific Research in Flanders, Belgium. Four of the study’s coinvestigators are employees of Amgen, and the others disclosed relationships with Amgen and several other pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Watts is director, cofounder, and owner OsteoDynamics and holds stock and patents. He has received fees and/or honoraria from numerous drug companies including Amgen, Novartis, Warner Chilcott, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Takeda, Vivus, and Warner Chilcott. Through his university, he has research support from Amgen, Merck, and NPS.