Empagliflozin may be better than DPP-4 inhibitors or GLP-1 agonists for reducing hospitalization risks for heart failure patients, interim results suggest
Interim results of a real-world study suggest that empagliflozin is associated with lower hospitalization risks for heart failure patients compared with DPP-4 inhibitors or GLP-1 agonists, whilst offering similar non-fatal, atherosclerotic cardiovascular event risks.
Researchers from Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany) and Eli Lilly and Company (IN, USA) have released interim results of the real-world, EMPagliflozin compaRative effectIveness and SafEty (EMPRISE) study. The findings demonstrate that empagliflozin is associated with lower hospitalization risks for heart failure patients compared with DPP-4 inhibitors or GLP-1 agonists, whilst offering similar non-fatal, atherosclerotic cardiovascular event risks.
The interim study analysis included 190,000 individuals from the USA with Type 2 diabetes, who did not have cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.
Compared with DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists, empagliflozin use was associated with 41% and 17% reductions in heart failure-related hospitalization risks for diabetic patients respectively.
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Additional data demonstrate that empagliflozin was associated with a significant reduction in all-cause hospitalizations, emergency department visits and physician office visits compared with DPP-4 inhibitors.
These results build on previous data obtained from the EMPA-REG OUTCOME® randomized controlled trial, in which the effectiveness of empagliflozin at reducing cardiovascular death risk compared with placebo in this patient population was investigated.
Sherry Martin, Vice President of Global Medical Affairs at Eli Lilly, commented: “We are pleased to see the 3-year data for EMPRISE continues to complement findings from the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial. These new real-world findings are just one part of a broad and comprehensive clinical development program, including a large heart failure program, that explores how empagliflozin can improve patient health outcomes and potentially fill treatment gaps for people with cardiorenal metabolic conditions.”
Waheed Jamal (Boehringer Ingelheim) explained: “Heart failure is the most common cause of hospitalization among individuals aged 65 years and over in Europe and the USA. It is therefore encouraging to see that, in addition to the clinical trial setting, empagliflozin has been seen to reduce the risk of heart failure hospitalization in people with Type 2 diabetes in routine clinical practice.”
Source:
https://boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/emprise-interim-analysis
What is empagliflozin?
Empagliflozin is a reversible inhibitor of SGLT2, located in the proximal convoluted tubules in the kidneys. Empagliflozin acts to reduce glucose reabsorption from the kidneys and increase urinary output.
What are DPP-4 inhibitors?
DPP-4 inhibitors block the action of DPP-4, which is implicated in the metabolism of the hormone incretin. Examples of this class of drug include saxagliptin (Onglyza) and alogliptin (Vipidia).