The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved finerenone (Kerendia), the first agent from a new class of nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), on July 9 for treating patients with chronic kidney disease(CKD) associated with type 2 diabetes.
Janani Rangaswami, MD, a nephrologist not involved with finerenone's development, hailed the action as a "welcome addition to therapies in the cardiorenal space."
She also highlighted that until more evidence accumulates, finerenone will take a back seat to two more established renal-protective drug classes for patients with type 2 diabetes, the renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASIs), and the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.
RASIs, which include angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, remain first-line treatments for slowing the progression of CKD in patients with type 2 diabetes. The efficacy and safety of these agents are well-established. The trial that led to the FDA's decision to approve finerenone, FIDELIO-DKD, compared it against placebo in more than 5700 patients with type 2 diabetes who were all already taking a maximum-tolerated dose of an RASI. Source: Medscape
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