Boning up on RANKL

Interim Phase II osteoporosis results for Amgen Inc.'s AMG 162 offers proof of clinical concept for targeting the RANK ligand (RANKL) pathway. However, Auxeris Therapeutics Inc. has opted not to go after osteoporosis with its RANKL program and is focusing instead on metastatic bone diseases, leaving osteoporosis for its other clinical candidate, a beta blocker.

Last month, AMGN (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) reported that one dose of AMG 162, a monoclonal antibody targeting RANKL, suppressed bone turnover equivalent to or better than weekly Fosamax alendronate in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis (see BioCentury, March 29). Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK, Whitehouse Station, N.J.) markets Fosamax to treat osteoporosis and Paget's disease...