Bayer has recently launched its first-in-class non-steroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, Kerendia (finerenone), for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in India. Considering the large diabetes patient population in the country, Kerendia can gain quick market penetration, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s ‘Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center’ reveals that India had the highest number of diagnosed prevalent cases of T2D at 76.2 million among the 9MM countries (The US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Japan, China, and India) in 2021. The number is estimated to reach 91.7 million in 2029.

The CKD market is mainly dominated by cheap, generic drugs, such as the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), diuretics, and beta blockers. Kerendia will benefit patients with moderate or severe kidney damage, who pass albumin (a type of protein) in their urine.

Dr. Pavan Sunkireddy, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The existing treatments for patients with CKD and diabetes in India majorly focus on preventing the end-stage renal disease or kidney failure. Yet, most of the patients progress to kidney failure and then require dialysis or renal transplant, which are a great economic burden. Thus, there is a huge unmet need for cost-effective treatment of CKD patients with diabetes.”

Kerendia is expected to face stiff competition from sodium-glucose co-transporter (SGLT) inhibitors due to label expansion in CKD treatment. SGLT inhibitors, including Forxiga (dapagliflozin), were initially approved to treat T2D patients. In India, Forxiga is approved for CKD treatment.

Dr. Sunkireddy concludes: “Kerendia acts differently from the existing CKD in type2 diabetes treatments by blocking mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation and controlling CKD progression and cardiovascular damage. Hence, this drug can be a great opportunity to address the unmet need to treat CKD in diabetic patients in India. Given India’s huge population with diabetes and limited effective treatment for CKD, there is a great opportunity for Kerendia as it costs INR 97.5 ($ 1.23) per day.”