The Effect of the Cathepsin K Inhibitor ONO‐5334 on Trabecular and Cortical Bone in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis: The OCEAN Study

ONO‐5334 (Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan) inhibits cathepsin K and has been shown to increase areal bone mineral density (BMD) at the hip and spine in postmenopausal osteoporosis. Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) allows the study of the cortical and trabecular bone separately and provides structural information such as cortical thickness. We investigated the impact of 2 years of cathepsin K inhibition on these different bone compartments with ONO‐5334. The clinical study was a randomized, double‐blind, placebo, and active controlled parallel group study conducted in 13 centers in six European countries. The original study period of 12 months was extended by another 12 months. A total of 147 subjects (age 55–75 years) of the QCT substudy who participated in the extension period were included. Subjects had been randomized into one of five treatment arms: placebo; ONO‐5334 50 mg twice per day (BID); ONO‐5334 100 mg once daily (QD); ONO‐5334 300 mg QD; or alendronate 70 mg once weekly (QW). QCT was obtained to evaluate bone structure at the lumbar spine and proximal femur. After 24 months ONO‐5334 showed statistically significant increases versus placebo for integral, trabecular, and cortical BMD at the spine and the hip (for ONO‐5334 300 mg QD, BMD increases were 10.5%, 7.1%, and 13.4% for integral, cortical, and trabecular BMD at the spine, respectively, and 6.2%, 3.4%, and 14.6% for integral, cortical, and trabecular total femur BMD, respectively). Changes in cortical and trabecular BMD in the spine and hip were similar for alendronate as for ONO‐5334. Integral volume did not demonstrate statistically significant changes under ONO‐5334 treatment, thus there was no evidence of periosteal apposition, neither at the spine nor at the femur. Cortical thickness changes were not statistically significant for ONO‐5334 in the spine and hip, with exception of a 2.1% increase after month 24 in the intertrochanter for ONO‐5334 300 mg QD. Over 2 years ONO‐5334 showed a statistically significant and persistent increase of trabecular and integral BMD at the spine and the hip. Cortical BMD also progressively increased but at a lower rate. Changes in bone size and of periosteal apposition were not observed. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.