Pfizer rolls out osteoporosis drug bazedoxifene in Japan

USA-based Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), the world’s largest drugmaker by sales, yesterday launched Viviant (bazedoxifene) in Japan for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Pfizer received manufacturing and marketing approval for the product in Japan in July 2010.

Viviant, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), is a result of the research collaboration between Wyeth (now Pfizer) and Ligand (Nasdaq: LGND) that began in 1994. Pfizer is responsible for the registration and worldwide marketing of bazedoxifene, a synthetic drug specifically designed to reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures while also protecting uterine tissue. Ligand is entitled to receive tiered royalties on net sales of the drug.

Under the brand name Conbriza, the drug is also marketed in Spain through a co-promotion with that country’s biggest drugmaker Almirall. It was approved in April 2009 by the European Commission (under the trade name Conbriza) for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis in women at increased risk of fracture.