Johnson & Johnson says it is suspending testing of a drug that, according to the Food and Drug Administration, might cause serious bone problems.
As Reuters reports, the drug in question is fulranumab, a medication that works by blocking a protein that causes pain. The FDA is worried that drugs in this class, called nerve growth factor inhibitors or anti-NGF drugs, may cause a disorder in which “bone tissue dies due to lack of blood supply, eventually causing the bone to collapse.”
As a result of the use of such drugs, the FDA says, patients could be faced with total joint replacement.
Other anti-NGF drugs have also been under the FDA’s microscope in recent months. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced on Monday that the FDA had suspended its tests of an osteoporosis drug because of concerns over joint problems, and an NGF-inhibitor in development by Pfizer was put on hold earlier this year.
Following the Pfizer announcement, AstraZeneca voluntarily suspended studies of a similar drug, which was still in early testing.
The test suspensions have led to speculation about the safety and long-term viability of anti-NGF drugs as a whole.
