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September 2019

SGLT2 inhibitor improves outcomes for heart failure patients



Results of a new study show potential for the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin to be used in the treatment of heart failure.

Dapagliflozin (Forxiga®) has been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular death or worsening of heart failure in patients with or without type 2 diabetes. Results of the DAPA-HF trial, the first outcomes trial of an SGLT2 inhibitor in the treatment of heart failure in patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), were presented at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Paris earlier this month (September 2019). The data showed that dapagliflozin in addition to standard care reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or worsening of heart failure by 26% (absolute risk reduction, 4%) compared with placebo.

Investigator John McMurray, of the University of Glasgow cardiovascular research centre said: ‘Dapagliflozin did all the things we would like any drug to do in heart failure – improve symptoms, reduce hospital admissions and increase survival. Dapagliflozin was as effective in heart failure patients without diabetes as in those with diabetes.’

Heart failure affects more than half a million people in the UK, and is the leading cause of hospitalisation in people over 65 years.

Dapagliflozin, distributed by AstraZeneca, is not licensed for the treatment of heart failure.