Bone Builder: New drug could heal hard-to-mend fractures
By Nathan Seppa
A synthetic compound can heal broken bones that are so damaged they don’t knit on their own, a study in rats and dogs shows. Encouraged by the findings, scientists are already testing the compound in people. If the experimental drug–so far, called only CP-533,536–passes safety and effectiveness trials, it could become an important treatment for the very worst of fractures.
The compound works by binding to a receptor molecule on the surface of bone-building cells. A natural compound called prostaglandin E2 normally attaches to this receptor, which sets off a flurry of bone-repair signals in the cell. When tested as a drug, however, prostaglandin E2 had dire side effects.