SGLT-2 inhibitors may primarily drive growth of branded heart failure treatment market: GlobalData

Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim’s (BI’s) Jardiance (empagliflozin) and AstraZeneca’s Farxiga (dapagliflozin) are expected to drive heart failure (HF) market growth and achieve high uptake as cardiologists become more familiar with the sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2I) class, says GlobalData.

At the recently concluded European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2020, positive data has been presented for Jardiance. The EMPEROR-reduced Phase III trial for Jardiance demonstrated risk reduction in hospitalisation due to HF for patients with or without type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Akash Patel, Healthcare Analyst at GlobalData, comments, “This is highly significant for Jardiance, which could now directly compete with Farxiga for a leading share of the HF market.” 

Approximately 55 per cent of type T2D patients suffer from cardiovascular disease (CVD), which often leads to further complications such as major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), including hospitalisation from HF, further demonstrating the significance of these results. 

The recent, full-data announcement from Eli Lilly and BI’s EMPEROR-Reduced Phase III trial follows several weeks after the release of top-line data that demonstrated risk reduction in hospitalisation for HF with reduced ejection faction (HF-REF). 

The data further demonstrates that, compared to placebo, Jardiance reduces the risk of cardiovascular (CV) hospitalisations by 25 per cent in HF patients with or without T2D over a period of 16 months. Additionally, the average number of total hospitalisations in trial patients was reduced by over 30 per cent, and kidney function improved by 50 per cent, compared to placebo. 

Patel concludes, “If Eli Lilly and BI successfully receive regulatory approval, Jardiance will be a direct competitor to Farxiga, and will gain a substantial share of the HF market while also strengthening Eli Lilly’s and BI’s presence in the T2D market. However, Eli Lilly and BI are likely to face initial challenges in establishing Jardiance in the HF market due to Farxiga’s head start and cardiologists’ overall unfamiliarity with the SGLT-2I class.”