EASi-KIDNEY

Our EMPA-KIDNEY trial  which studied 6609 volunteer kidney patients, showed that empagliflozin reduces the risk of needing dialysis or a kidney transplant or death from cardiovascular disease in people who have kidney disease. Empagliflozin is now recommended for most adults with chronic kidney disease worldwide.

However, although empagliflozin approximately halves the rate of long-term decline in kidney function, it is not a cure for chronic kidney disease, and patients are still at risk of both progression to kidney failure and cardiovascular disease. Heart failure is a particular feature of chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease remains the most common underlying cause of death in people with kidney problems.

EASi-KIDNEY^TM is a new trial building on our previous work and will assess whether a new drug, currently called BI 690517, reduces the risk of kidney disease progression, hospitalisation for heart failure or death from cardiovascular disease in people with chronic kidney disease when it is added to standard care including empagliflozin.

This international, multi-centre randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial will aim to recruit about 11,000 people with chronic kidney disease, with or without type 2 diabetes. It will start recruitment in 2024 and we aim for results to be available in 2028. The trial is run by the Renal Studies Group.