Lilly osteoporosis drug recommended for breast cancer

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has recommended approving Eli Lilly and Co.’s Evista osteoporosis drug for cutting the risk of cancer in post-menopausal women with osteoporosis and post-menopausal women at high risk for breast cancer.

The non-binding recommendation follows an announcement from Lilly earlier this month that Evista reduced the risk of certain invasive breast cancers in post-menopausal women.

Lilly is looking for more uses for the drug, which generates $1 billion a year in sales, because it expects sales to weaken in the next several years. A patent on the drug expires in 2014.