Actonel Halves Risk of Fracture in Osteoporotic Women With History of Hip Fracture

Honolulu, Hawaii (ots/PRNewswire) - New data show that Actonel(R)
5mg (risedronate sodium tablets) reduces the risk of clinical
fractures by half versus placebo over three years in postmenopausal
women with osteoporosis who have suffered a previous hip fracture(1)-
a group of patients at high risk of a subsequent fracture. These
results are from a retrospective analysis of the Actonel HIP trial(2)
and were presented today at the American Society for Bone and Mineral
Research (ASBMR) 29th Annual Meeting.

"As physicians we want assurance that a therapy is effective at
treating varying severities of disease. In this analysis risedronate
effectively reduced fracture risk among patients with severe
osteoporosis," said Dr Michael McClung, primary investigator of the
study and founding director of the Oregon Osteoporosis Centre in
Portland, Oregon, USA.

A history of prior fracture is an important risk factor for future
fracture. After a postmenopausal woman suffers a hip fracture her
risk is approximately doubled for sustaining another fracture at the
hip or elsewhere.(3) Despite this, multiple studies suggest that
elderly adults with hip fractures rarely receive therapy for
osteoporosis.(4) In one study, only 13% of hip fracture patients
received treatment in the year following the fracture.(5)

"It is troubling that so few patients who have had a hip fracture
receive appropriate care for osteoporosis" said Dr Steven Boonen,
medical director of Leuven University Centre for Metabolic Bone
Diseases, Belgium. "Therapies are available that can help reduce the
risk of subsequent osteoporosis-related fractures. These high risk
patients should be aggressively identified and managed to help
prevent further fractures from occurring."

About the Analysis

Patients were identified from the Actonel HIP trial who were
between the ages of 70-79 years, had low bone mineral density (BMD,
T-score lesser than or equal to -2.5), and had a history of at least
one hip fracture prior to the study. The mean age of the patients was
75 years and the mean femoral neck and lumbar spine T-scores were
-3.1 and -3.2, respectively. These patients were evaluated for
combined incidence of clinical vertebral and nonvertebral fractures
by a time-to-event analysis (Kaplan-Meier). All fractures were
confirmed by x-ray.

The incidence of osteoporosis-related clinical fractures over
three years among patients taking Actonel 5mg versus placebo was 13%
(12 of 106 patients) and 28.4% (27 of 111 patients), respectively,
corresponding to a 50% reduction (p=0.048) in fracture risk with
Actonel.(1)

Notes to Editors:

This study was sponsored by The Alliance for Better Bone Health

Osteoporosis

- Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease that increases bone
fragility and susceptibility to fracture. Fracture is a devastating
consequence of osteoporosis.

- A 50-year-old woman has around a 40% lifetime risk of
suffering a fracture from osteoporosis(6) - equivalent to the women's
lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease(7)

- Osteoporosis affects an estimated 75 million people in
Europe, USA and Japan(8).

- Someone suffers an osteoporosis-related fracture about every
30 seconds in Europe alone(9)

- In 2000, the estimated direct costs of osteoporosis-related
fractures in Europe were EUR31.7 billion - this is expected to
increase to EUR76.7 billion by 2050 based on the expected changes in
the age profile of the European population(10)

Impact of hip fractures in Europe

- Approximately one in five people who suffer a hip fracture
will die within the following year(11),(12)

- The annual number of hip fractures will increase from
414,000 in 2000 to 972,000 in 2050(13) - equivalent to nearly two hip
fractures every minute, 111 an hour or 2663 a day

- Hip-fracture patients occupy one fifth of all orthopaedic
beds and account for nearly 90% of acute hospital costs of
osteoporosis-related fractures(14)

About The Alliance for Better Bone Health

The Alliance for Better Bone Health was formed by Procter & Gamble
Pharmaceuticals and Aventis part of the sanofi-aventis Group, in May
1997 to promote bone health and disease awareness through numerous
activities to support physicians and patients around the globe.

About Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)

Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people
around The world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of
trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R),
Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R),
Dawn(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R),
Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head
& Shoulders(R), Wella, Gillette(R), and Braun. The P&G community
consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries
worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and
in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About sanofi-aventis

Sanofi-aventis is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical
company, ranking number one in Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D
organization, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions in seven
major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology,
metabolic diseases, central nervous system, internal medicine, and
vaccines. The sanofi-aventis Group is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN)
and in New York (NYSE: SNY).

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REFERENCES

(1) McClung MR et al. The Effect of risedronate on risk of
clinical fracture among patients with prior hip fracture. ASBMR.
2007. Honolulu. Abstract.

(2) McClung MR et al. Effect of risedronate on the risk of hip
fracture in elderly women. N Engl J Med 2001;344: 333-340.

(3) Klotzbuecher, CM, et al. Patients with prior fractures have an
increased risk of future fractures: a summary of the literature and
statistical synthesis. J of Bone Min Res 2000;15: 721-739.

(4) Sheryl L.et al. Lack of diagnosis and treatment of
osteoporosis in men and women after hip fracture. Pharmacotherapy
2003;23(2): 190-198.

(5) Orwig DL, et al. Treatment of osteoporosis following a hip
fracture: sending results of bone densitometry to primary care
physicians does not increase use of pharmacologic therapy (abstr). J
Bone Miner Res 2001;15(suppl 1): SA323.

(6) Melton LJ et al. Perspective. How many women have
osteoporosis? J Bone Miner Res 1992; 7: 1005-1010

(7) Kanis J A. Diagnosis of osteoporosis and assessment of
fracture risk. Lancet 2002; 359: 1929-36

(8) EFFO and NOF Who are candidates for prevention and treatment
for osteoporosis? Osteoporos Int 1997;7:1.

(9) International Osteoporosis Foundation. Osteoporosis in the
European Community: a call to action. An audit of policy developments
since 1998. International Osteoporosis Foundation 2001

(10) Kanis JA, Johnell O. Requirements for DXA for the management
of osteoporosis in Europe. Osteoporosis Int 2005;16: 229-38

(11) Leibson CL, Tosteson AN, Gabriel SE, et al. Mortality,
disability, and nursing home use for persons with and without hip
fracture: a population-based study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2002; 50:
1644-1650

(12) Magaziner J, Simonsick EM, Kashner TM, et al. Predictors of
functional recovery one year following hospital discharge for hip
fracture: a prospective study. J Gerontol 1990; 45: M101-M107

(13) European Commission Report on Osteoporosis in the European
Community. Action for prevention. Luxembourg: Office for Official
Publications of the European Communities 1998

(14) World Health Organisation. Prevention and management of
osteoporosis. WHO Technical Report Series 921. Geneva: World Health
Organisation 2003.

For further information please contact:
Helen Crow
Ketchum
+44-(0)7787-533-023
Peter Impey
Ketchum
+44-(0)7976-734-493

ots Originaltext: Alliance for Better Bone Health
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For further information please contact: Helen Crow, Ketchum,
+44-(0)7787-533-023; Peter Impey, Ketchum, +44-(0)7976-734-493