Anti – diabetes drug used for the treatment of kidney disorder

New Delhi: On Monday, drug firm, AstraZeneca India has stated that it has acquired marketing authorization on the use of anti-diabetic drug, dapagliflozin in treating patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD). The company has stated that the permission has paved the way for the launch of dapagliflozin tablets (10 mg) in India for the treatment of CKD.

The company further added that it is the first medicine in SGLT – 2i class to get transformed into a new disease area by demonstrating efficacy and safety data for treating patients with CKD.

The results of the study demonstrated a positive sign in reducing CKD progression in patients having or not having type – 2 diabetes.

Anil Kukreja, AstraZeneca India Vice President – Medical Affairs and Regulatory said, “Despite currently available therapies, a significant unmet need for effective management of CKD continues to exist globally. With the approval of dapagliflozin for CKD in India, an already effective type – 2 diabetes and select heart failure treatment, can now be used by nephrologists in the management of CKD”.

CKD is emerging as a global public health problem. The global disease burden report of 2015 has stated that CKD is the 12th most common reason for mortality with a 37.1 percent rise in death cases over the span of 10 years.

Affecting almost 70 crore people throughout the world, while many of them still remaining undiagnosed, CKD is a serious, progressive condition caused by weakness in kidney function and kidney damage.

Among the 1 billion plus population in India, the existence of CKD is likely to be 17.2 per cent. The rise in the level of CKD is expected to be a serious threat to both the healthcare and economy in the near future.

CKD often leads to significant patient death and an increased chance of cardiovascular (CV) disease, such as heart failure and premature death. While there are medicines to counter the risk of CKD or its associated problems, there are few that works directly to slow down the renal disease progression.