(Yahoo) Reclast, an annual 15-minute infusion, allegedly reduces the risk of new spine fractures by 70 percent and of hip fractures by 40 percent, according to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Chemically known as zoledronic acid, the drug also reduced the risk of fractures elsewhere, according to a just-completed international study of 7,736 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The data, from final-stage of human testing, was presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research in Philadelphia. Like Fosamax, Boniva, and Actonel, Reclast slows down the speed at which cells called osteoclasts break down bone while other cells build it back up. Reclast is part of a decade-long trend of researchers developing osteoporosis drugs taken less and less frequently.
