SGLT2 inhibitors, used to treat type 2 diabetes, reduced the rate of being admitted to hospital for heart failure or death from heart failure by 39 per cent, a worldwide study has found.
SGLT2 inhibitors are a relatively new type of drug class which was approved for treating type 2 diabetes in 2013. They work by helping the kidneys to lower blood sugar levels.
Now a study of more than 300,000 people across six countries has demonstrated significant health benefits of the oral medication compared to other medicines used to treat type 2 diabetes.
Bruce Cooper, Vice President and Head of Global Medical Affairs at AstraZenecan, said: “Real-world data from this study provide striking evidence that the newer SGLT-2i class of medicines cuts the rate of hospitalisations for heart failure and death by approximately half.
“CVD-REAL is the first study to observe these effects of SGLT-2i treatment in a much broader and lower risk group of type 2 diabetes patients than previously evaluated in clinical trials.”
The SGLT2 inhibitors investigated during the CVD-REAL study were Forxiga (dapagliflozin), Jardiance (empagliflozin) and Invokana (canagliflozin).
More than 90 per cent of people studied were on either Forxiga, mainly prescribed in Europen, or Invokana, primarily taken in the US. Eighty-seven per cent of those studied had no history of cardiovascular disease.
The type 2 diabetes treatments that the SGLT2s were compared against included insulin and DPP-4 inhibitors as well as metformin.
SGLT-2 drugs were shown to lower the combined risk of hospitalisation for heart failure and death from any cause by 46 per cent. The reduction of admittance to hospital for heart failure or death from heart failure was 39 per cent.
Researcher, Dr Mikhail Kosiborod, who is a cardiologist based ay Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute located in Kansas City said: “The fact that the results are remarkably consistent from country to country regardless of which compound predominates, that certainly seems to suggest that it’s a class effect.”
The findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology 66th Annual Scientific Session.
