Summary
Researchers at EPFL, led by Dominique Pioletti, have developed a groundbreaking injectable hydrogel that can significantly increase bone density in specific areas, offering a new approach to treating osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a disease where bones weaken because they break down faster than they build up, leading to fractures. Dominique Pioletti from EPFL highlights that economic and social impacts of osteoporosis fractures are often overlooked.
Without effective prevention, about 40% of women and 20% of men over 50 will have a major fracture due to osteoporosis. For older people, hip fractures have a 20% mortality rate within a year, and more than half never fully recover.
After diagnosis, patients usually take drugs to either slow bone loss or speed up new bone growth. However, these treatments can take up to a year to work, leaving patients at risk of fractures during this time.
To address this, Pioletti and his team at EPFL‘s start-up, flowbone, have developed an injectable hydrogel that quickly increases bone density in specific areas.
They collaborated with Vincent Stadelmann at the Schulthess Klinik in Zurich. Their study shows that combining this hydrogel with traditional drugs can increase bone density in rats’ legs by four to five times. This breakthrough could significantly improve fracture prevention in osteoporosis patients.
Most osteoporosis treatments affect the whole body, and local treatments are rare. The new hydrogel, made of hyaluronic acid and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles, mimics bone’s natural minerals.
Studies show that hydrogel injections alone can double or triple local bone density. The most significant effect was seen in rats treated with systemic drugs and the hydrogel mixed with Zoledronate, leading to a 4.8-fold increase in bone density within 2-4 weeks.
Pioletti summarizes, “Injectable hydrogels with localized drug delivery can complement systemic treatments by rapidly increasing local bone density.”
The flowbone team is awaiting regulatory approval for human trials, hoping to demonstrate the hydrogel’s benefits for rapid bone densification and fracture prevention.
Journal Reference:
- Vincent A. Stadelmann, Estelle Gerossier, Ulrike Kettenberger, Dominique P. Pioletti, Combining systemic and local osteoporosis treatments: A longitudinal in vivo microCT study in ovariectomized rats, Bone, Volume 192, 2025, 117373, ISSN 8756-3282, DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2024.117373
Source: Tech Explorist
