Injectable Zoledronic Acid For Paget’s Disease
Reclast (zoledronic acid) injection (Novartis) has been approved as the first new treatment in nearly a decade for patients with Paget’s disease. It is given as a single 5-mg, 15-minute infusion; current oral therapies must be taken daily for up to six months.
Paget’s disease is a chronic, often painful bone disorder that causes abnormal bone growth and weak and brittle bones. Reclast attaches to bone and blocks excessive bone breakdown and rebalances the natural bone-remodeling process.
Reclast has been found to be more effective and faster-working than drug risedronate sodium (generic Actonel, Procter & Gamble), the current standard therapy for patients with Paget’s disease, and it offers a longer period of remission.
The injection has been approved in more than 50 countries as Aclasta, and it is being reviewed for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Zoledronic acid is also marketed as Zometa for use in oncology.
