Investigational Therapy Denosumab Increased Bone Mineral Density With Twice-yearly Dosing

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), the world's largest biotechnology company, announced today the publication of Phase 2 data demonstrating twice-yearly injections of denosumab (previously referred to as AMG 162), a RANK Ligand inhibitor, significantly increased bone mineral density (BMD) in the total hip, lumbar spine, distal 1/3 radius and total body compared to placebo. The results of this one-year study appeared in the Feb. 23, 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Data results also included an open-label FOSAMAXВ® (alendronate)* arm of the same clinical trial.



Researchers reported that subcutaneous injections of denosumab significantly increased BMD at the total hip from 1.9 to 3.6 percent in women who were administered the therapy twice yearly as compared with a decrease of 0.6 percent in the placebo group (p







In the one-year trial results, researchers also reported twice-yearly subcutaneous injections of denosumab significantly increased lumbar spine BMD from 3.0 to 6.7 percent after 12 months as compared with a decrease of 0.8 percent in the placebo-treated patients (p