Ibandronate in prevention of osteoporotic fractures

Bisphosphonates are among the drugs most frequently used in osteoporosis; however, due to their low bioavailability and incon-venient way of administration, only 44.2% of patients continue the weekly therapy after a year. Ibandronate is a new aminobis-phosphonate which can be administered in a dose of 150 mg orally once monthly and 3 mg intravenously once in 3 months. In the article clinical trials (BONE, MOBILE, DIVA) are discussed, which have proved that ibandronate efficiently reduces the risk of spinal and non-vertebral fractures and can be safely used in the treatment of osteoporosis.
The results of the VIBE study are also presented, showing a lack of difference in the incidence of proximal femur fractures and sig-nificantly lower incidence of vertebral fractures in the group of patients treated with ibandronate once monthly, as compared to alendronate once weekly.
The simple schema of the dosage of ibandronate with long breaks between consecutive doses has a beneficial effect on adherence to treatment procedures and length of the therapy of osteoporosis.