AstraZeneca Initiates Phase III Trial of Diabetes Drug Farxiga (Dapagliflozin) for COVID-19 Treatment

AstraZeneca (Cambridgeshire, England), along with Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, has initiated a randomized, global Phase III trial to assess the potential of Farxiga (dapagliflozin) as a treatment in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who are at risk of developing serious complications, such as organ failure. The goal of the trial, called DARE-19, is to assess whether Farxiga, a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, can reduce the risk of disease progression, clinical complications, and death due to COVID-19 in patients who also have cardiovascular (CV), metabolic or kidney risk factors.

AstraZeneca is rapidly mobilizing its COVID-19 research efforts to focus on key areas: identifying novel coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus to prevent or treat disease progression; and investigating the application of the company’s new and existing medicines to suppress the body’s overactive immune response, or protect from serious complications, such as organ failure caused by COVID-19 disease.

Farxiga is a first-in-class, oral, once-daily SGLT2 inhibitor indicated in adults for the treatment of insufficiently controlled T2D as both monotherapy and as part of combination therapy as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycaemic control, with the additional benefits of weight loss and blood-pressure reduction. In the DECLARE CV outcomes trial in adults with T2D, Farxiga reduced the risk of the composite endpoint of hospitalization for heart failure or CV death versus placebo, when added to standard of care.

DARE-19 is an international, parallel-group, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, investigator-sponsored Phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Farxiga in addition to background local standard of care therapy, on the risk of all-cause death or disease progression and complications in adults who are hospitalized with COVID-19 at the time of trial enrolment. Patients enrolled in DARE-19 also have a medical history of hypertension (HTN), atherosclerotic CV disease, heart failure with reduced or preserved ejection fraction, T2D or CKD Stage III to IV. The primary efficacy outcome of the trial is time to first occurrence of death from any cause or new/worsened organ dysfunction through 30 days of follow-up.

“AstraZeneca is committed to finding new solutions to fight COVID-19 by investigating the application of our new and existing medicines. With the Phase III DARE-19 trial, we aim to test whether Farxiga can prevent serious complications such as organ failure in those patients with pre-existing health conditions, a critical goal when treating COVID-19,” said Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca.

“Dapagliflozin has demonstrated cardio and renal protective benefits and improved outcomes in high-risk patients with type-2 diabetes, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and chronic kidney disease. Patients with COVID-19 and underlying cardiometabolic disease appear to be at the highest risk of morbid complications. Through DARE-19, we hope to decrease the severity of illness, and prevent cardiovascular, respiratory and kidney decompensation, which are common in patients with COVID-19,” said Mikhail N. Kosiborod, M.D., cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, Vice President of Research at Saint Luke's Health System, and principal investigator of DARE-19.

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