Sclerostin Inhibition for Osteoporosis - A New Approach

Effective new therapies are still needed for people with osteoporosis. In 2002, the introduction of teriparatide, or recombinant parathyroid hormone (PTH [1-34]), opened a promising chapter in osteoporosis care.(1) For the first time, there was an anabolic agent that significantly increased bone mineral density (BMD), reduced fracture risk, and restored bone architecture back to, or close to, normal. However, despite an impressive track record of both safety and efficacy, teriparatide has had a limited clinical reach as compared with other agents, largely owing to its requirement for daily subcutaneous injection, a black-box warning about osteosarcoma in rats, and its high ...