To date, there are no current orally available compounds that promote bone formation for treating osteoporosis; most treatments act by inhibiting osteoclastic bone resorption, leading to increased bone mineral density and reduced hip fracture rate in a modest way. Analogues of parathyroid hormone (PTH) are the most frequently used bone anabolic agents, which even though effective, they require daily injections.
Curvebeam AI Ltd. won a U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation for Ossview, its investigational software that detects osteopenia or reduced bone mass in the already fragile bones of women 70 years of age and older. Osteopenia is difficult to diagnose using conventional bone mineral density (BMD) testing because small changes in density mask major changes in bone microstructure.
Scientists at Osaka University have discovered that intercellular communication via extracellular vesicles from osteoblasts, cells that are specialized for laying down new bone, is a key factor for the transition from bone formation to resorption via a microRNA (miRNA)-mediated mechanism.
Medimaps Group SA has landed $20 million to expand its portfolio of bone health imaging software. The round was led by Swisscanto Invest, the asset management arm of the Zürcher Kantonalbank group, with participation from the Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, Swisscom Ventures, and Verve Ventures. The company’s flagship product TBS (trabecular bone score) Insight is an artificial intelligence-powered medical software which provides information on bone quality from routine DXA and X-ray images.
Agnovos Healthcare LLC, a company using regenerative medicine to treat localized effects of bone disease, has received the FDA’s nod for an IDE clinical trial to assess its AGN1 local osteo-enhancement procedure (LOEP) small-volume (SV) kit in patients with vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). The investigational device is intended to treat stable but painful VCFs via a minimally invasive procedure. The kit, which comes in the form of two single-use trays, contains a calcium-based, resorbable, triphasic implant material that is designed to align the pace of resorption with bone formation, providing treated vertebrae with immediate and durable protection.
Shares of Israeli drug delivery specialist Entera Bio Ltd. (NASDAQ:ENTX) led the U.S. market March 11, in both percentage gain and volume, climbing 152.5% to $4.04 after a report that its oral parathyroid hormone candidate, EB-613, significantly boosted levels of P1NP, a biomarker indicating new bone formation vs. placebo at three months in an ongoing phase II osteoporosis study.
The skeleton undergoes continuous remodeling throughout life in response to diverse environmental stimuli. Osteoclasts, which are specialized cells on the bone surface, break down old bone tissue (in a process known as bone resorption) and build it back up. Dysregulation of osteoclast formation and function can lead to bone fragility, including osteoporosis, which is estimated to affect over 10 million people globally.
Bone Health Technologies Inc. may be on the verge of upstaging a common drug therapy, but don't tell them to break a leg. The San Francisco-based company's Osteoboost Vibration Belt received a U.S. FDA breakthrough designation for technology that delivers gentle stimulation to reduce bone loss and prevent osteoporosis with the goal of reducing the number of potentially devastating broken bones in the elderly.
HONG KONG – South Korea’s Daewon Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has launched Terrosa, a teriparatide biosimilar for the treatment of osteoporosis, acquired from Hungarian firm Richter-Helm Biotec GmbH & Co KG. It’s the first biosimilar launch for the company.
Researchers at Duke University have developed a bandage that concentrates adenosine at the site of a fracture and speeds bone repair. In animal testing, the bandage accelerated bone healing by 20% to 25%, lead researcher Shyni Varghese told BioWorld MedTech.
