Abstract
Osteoporosis is a common medical condition in older individuals, responsible for approximately 1.5 million fragility fractures in the USA each year. Alendronate sodium with cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) is a newly developed combination formulation for the treatment of osteoporosis in women and for increasing bone mass in men with osteoporosis. It complements the existing once-weekly dosage formulation of alendronate sodium alone, providing, in addition to alendronate, a 2800 international unit (IU) dose of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), equivalent to 400 IU daily. Its efficacy in reducing fracture risk is expected to be at least as good as that of once-weekly alendronate given for the same indications.