A new study shows that Actonel, Procter & Gamble's new drug for osteoporosis, reduces victims' chances of suffering painful spinal fractures for as long as five years.

        A University of Cincinnati researcher presented the study results at a medical conference in Colorado.

        The study group of 265 postmenopausal women from Europe and Australia took the drug for five years. They were 50 percent less likely to develop new spinal fractures — the most common injury caused by osteoporosis, he said.

        “The real challenge now is to recognize the women that already have these fractures, get bone density tests for them and if necessary start osteoporosis treatment,” Dr. Nelson Watts said from the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.

        “Many women often think this is simply part of getting older. But (osteoporosis) is not inevitable.”

        Actonel is the brand name for risedronate sodium, one of several drugs doctors use to treat osteoporosis.

        It won FDA approval in spring 2000 and in its first year has emerged as the flagship product in P&G's growing pharmaceutical unit. It generated more than $100 million in annual sales, and accounts for about 8.5 percent of the U.S. market.

        Actonel was developed at P&G facilities in Mason and Norwich, N.Y., and has been marketed in cooperation with French drugmaker Aventis SA.

        Nationwide, about 1.5 million women suffer bone fractures related to the weakening of bones by osteoporosis.

        Of those, about 750,000 are spinal, compression fractures. About a third of spinal fractures that can be detected by X-ray cause enough pain that women seek medical attention, Dr. Watts said.

        The study is the first to confirm longterm benefits without major side effects from Actonel. In February, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that Actonel reduced the risk of hip fractures by up to 60 percent in women.
       About a third of spinal fractures that can be detected by X-ray cause enough pain that women seek medical attention, Dr. Watts said.

        Friday's report was the first to confirm long-term benefits and minimal side effects from Actonel, but it is the second positive medical news about it to emerge this year. In February, a study with osteoporosis.

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