Researchers to investigate diabetes drug canagliflozin as potential nephropathy treatment

A new study is to investigate whether the type 2 diabetes drug canagliflozin (Invokana) can help treat patients with diabetic nephropathy.
Manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals have announced a clinical trial to evaluate canagliflozin as a potential treatment for diabetes-related kidney disease, specifically whether it can slow the progression of the disease.
In a press release, the Belgium-based pharmaceutical said researchers will enrol more than 3,700 patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic nephropathy for the Canagliflozin and Renal Events in Diabetes with Established Nephropathy Clinical Evaluation (CREDENCE) phase 3 study.
“Nearly one-third of all patients with type 2 diabetes will develop evidence of nephropathy,” the release said. “Despite the availability of existing therapies proven to slow its progressio, diabetic nephropathy is associated with a 36% mortality rate over a 5-year period.”
“Clearly, patients need new, safe and effective treatment options. We look forward to determining if canagliflozin can be used to treat diabetic nephropathy, as we continue to assess additional uses for canagliflozin.”
Canagliflozin is the first in a new class of oral diabetes medications called sodium-glucose co- transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, which lower blood glucose levels by blocking reabsorbtion of glucose in the kidneys so that more is passed out in the urine.
The drug was approved in the EU for treatment of type 2 diabetes in November 2013, and it could soon be joined by a new pill that combines Invokana with the widely used diabetes drug metformin.
Advisors to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have recommended that Janssen’s new fixed-dose combination treatment Vokanament be approved, paving the way for full European approval within the next three months.