The SGLT2 inhibitor drug class solidified its role as a major, new treatment for patients who have heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and no diabetes, with results from a second large, controlled trial showing clear efficacy and safety in this population.
Patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) treated with the sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor empagliflozin (Jardiance, Boehringer Ingelheim/Eli Lilly) had a statistically significant 25% relative cut in their incidence of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization, compared with placebo controls, when added on top of standard HFrEF treatment, and this benefit was consistent regardless of whether the treated patients also had type 2 diabetes. The results were reported at the virtual European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2020 and also simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
