WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Swiss drug maker Novartis A said Friday it had won U.S. approval to sell the first once-a-year treatment for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis.

The drug, Reclast, is administered annually in a 15-minutes infusion for women with post-menopausal osteoporosis.

It will compete with ostoporosis pills that are taken daily, weekly, or monthly.

Not all women take those medicines regularly, which reduces their effectiveness for preventing their bone fractures.

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