Type 2 diabetes drug canagliflozin significantly reduces cardiovascular risk, study reports

A drug used to lower blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes reduces the risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalisation for heart failure by 22%, research has found.
These new findings of the drug canagliflozi, marketed using the brand name Invokana, were made as part of the CANVAS Program. The CANVAS Program has involved over 10,000 people with type 2 diabetes with a history of cardiovascular disease or who had more than two risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.
Invokana is a SGLT2 inhibitor, a class of drug which helps to lower blood glucose levels by reducing the amount of glucose absorbed in the kidneys so that it is passed out in the urine. The drug is taken in tablet form once a day to treat type 2 diabetes, alongside eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise.
Canagliflozin was shown to reduce the risk of deaths from cardiovascular disease or heart failure resulting in hospital admission by 39% in people with a history of heart failure, compared to 13% in people without heart problems before the study.
Professor Javed Butler, who is the Chairman of Medicine at University of Mississippi, said: “These results add to the body of evidence suggesting that canagliflozin has clinical benefit in patients with type 2 diabetes who are also at risk for some of the major cardiovascular complications.”
Dr Robert Cuddihy from Janssen Research &Development, which develops Invokana, added: “Hospitalization for heart failure and, even worse, cardiovascular death are on the minds of many doctors and patients who manage type 2 diabetes. This new analysis from the landmark CANVAS Program helps reinforce important additional clinical benefits of canagliflozin.”
The findings were revealed at the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology and appear online in the journal Circulation.