Forxiga (dapagliflozin) has been approved in the European Union to extend the indication for heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) to cover patients across the full spectrum of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), including HF with mildly reduced and preserved ejection fraction (HFmrEF, HFpEF).
The approval by the European Commission follows the positive opinion of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in December 2022 and was based on the positive results from the DELIVER Phase III trial. Results from the prespecified pooled analysis of DELIVER and DAPA-HF Phase III trials also established Forxiga as the first HF medication to demonstrate mortality benefit across the full ejection fraction range.
Mene Pangalos, executive vice president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, said: “This broader indication for Forxiga for the treatment of symptomatic chronic heart failure across the full ejection fraction range will help more patients to benefit from this well-tolerated and guideline-directed treatment.
“We are redefining treatment of cardiorenal diseases with Forxiga’s demonstration of life-saving benefits, underscoring AstraZeneca’s commitment to provide innovative solutions that can help address the complexities of heart failure across the spectrum of the disease.”
HF is a chronic, long-term condition that worsens over time and affects about 15 million people in Europe. Approximately half of HF patients die within five years of diagnosis and patients with HFmrEF and HFpEF are not only at greater risk of death and hospitalisations but experience an especially high burden of symptoms and physical limitations, and a poor quality of life.
HFmrEF and HFpEF are also severely underdiagnosed as signs and symptoms are often nonspecific and overlapping with other clinical conditions. These conditions are frequently complicated by multiple interrelated diseases, specifically coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, long-standing hypertension, and chronic kidney disease (CKD), highlighting the importance of risk management for patients with this complex syndrome.
Forxiga (known as Farxiga in the US) is approved for the treatment of patients with type-2 diabetes (T2D), HFrEF and CKD in more than 100 countries around the world including the US, the EU, China and Japan. It has most recently received regulatory approvals in Great Britain, Japan and Turkey to extend the HF indication to include patients across the full spectrum of LVEF. The HF indication extension application is currently under review in the US and other countries.
