Conditions: Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 565
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness and tolerability of two medications, calcitonin nasal spray and a tablet containing calcitonin, in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is the term used to describe a large group of diseases, which are characterized by loss of bone density, which makes the bones weaker. Osteoporosis often occurs in postmenopausal women.

Calcitonin is a hormone found in the human body. Together with other substances, it regulates the concentration of calcium in the blood and inhibits the natural resorption of bone. Both medications in this study contain salmon calcitonin (sCT), because this form of calcitonin is more active than human calcitonin when used as a medicine.

The calcitonin Nasal Spray used in this study is registered and available to doctors in United States for the treatment of osteoporosis. The medication being tested in this study is an oral tablet form of salmon calcitonin.

Detailed description:
This was a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, multiple dose, placebo-controlled, parallel group, 48- week, Phase III study. Women age 45 and over who were postmenopausal and had a diagnosis of osteoporosis were eligible for the study and were randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups; placebo tablets, oral rsCT tablets or calcitonin nasal spray. Each patient was given a treatment kit, which contained the study medication to which she had been assigned and a placebo of the treatment to which she was not assigned, or placebo nasal and oral preparations, as well as the required dietary supplements (calcium and vitamin D tablets). The study medication and supplements were self-administered at home. It was anticipated that approximately 545 patients would participate in the study.

EFFICACY: Bone Mineral Density (BMD) was recorded at Screening, Week 24, and Week 48. CTx-1 and N-telopeptide of collagen 1 (NTx-1), biochemical markers of bone resorption and total Procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP),a marker of bone formation, were assessed at Week 0, Week 24, and Week 48. SAFETY: Adverse events were assessed at the clinic at Weeks 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48, and by interim phone calls at Weeks 4, 8, 16, 20, 28, 32, 40, 44, and 52. At Screening, Week 12, and Week 48, a physical examination, including nasal exam, was performed and specimens for safety laboratory analysis (clinical chemistry, hematology, and urinalysis) were collected. Sera for immunogenicity evaluations were collected at Baseline, Week 12, and Week 48.

EFFICACY: The primary comparison of interest was the percent change from baseline to 48 weeks in axial lumbar spine (L1 to L4) corrected BMD comparing the rsCT oral tablet group and the calcitonin nasal spray group. The model included the factors of the covariate (baseline BMD), treatment group, and center. The hypothesis to be tested was performed to examine the non-inferiority of the oral tablet group to the nasal spray group with respect to the percent change in axial lumbar L1-L4 spine corrected BMD. Specifically, the null hypothesis to be tested was: \[Mean(oral) - Mean(placebo)\] - 0.5 x \[Mean(nasal) - Mean(placebo)\] \< 0 The alternative hypothesis was that the above expression was \> 0, which implied that the oral tablet group was non-inferior to nasal spray group. The primary analysis of interest employed the modified intent-to-treat population.

SAFETY: Adverse events were summarized descriptively. Mean vital signs and clinical laboratory test results in each treatment group were compared using a one-way analysis of variance. Additionally, shift tables were prepared for each laboratory variable.

Arms:
arm 1: Intervention: Oral calcitonin tablet (along with placebo intranasal spray) arm 2: Intervention: Commercially available, active comparator, intranasal calcitonin-salmon (plus matching oral placebo tablet). arm 3: Intervention: Both oral matching placebo tablets and matching intranasal placebo spray

Interventions: intervention 1: Oral Calcitonin Tablets intervention 2: Intranasal Calcitonin intervention 3: Placebo tablets and placebo intranasal spray
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Oral Calcitonin tablets along with matching placebo intranasal spray intervention 2: Intranasal Calcitonin Spray intervention 3: Oral Placebo Tablets/Intranasal placebo spray

Protocol document: