With Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim (BI)’s Jardiance now approved to address both indications of heart failure (HF), GlobalData expects the drug to become a leading Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter-2-Inhibitor (*SGLT2-I) in the HF market. The leading data and analytics company notes that Jardiance could potentially overtake AstraZeneca’s Farxiga (dapagliflozin) as the leading HF therapy and will continue to be a leading therapeutic for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and HF.

Akash Patel, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Having previously gained a label expansion for Jardiance to treat HF in the US, Lilly and BI have now achieved approval in the EU to treat adults with symptomatic chronic HF. Specifically, Jardiance can be used for preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which adds to last year’s EU approval for Jardiance to treat patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).”

In HFpEF, the heart muscle thickens, which can cause it to hold an abnormally small volume of blood and due to this reduced capacity is inadequate to meet the bodies’ requirements. In HFrEF, the heart muscle is unable to adequately contract and cannot supply enough oxygen-enriched blood to the body.

Patel continues: “Jardiance works to counter HF, reducing the uptake of sodium from the kidneys and in doing so improves the volume of blood the heart can pump around the body. This will likely enable Jardiance to become a significant rival to Farxiga, in terms of market share, which has previously achieved approval for HFrEF.”

Farxiga is likely to suffer serious competition to its market share in the HF space as an increasing number of adults are diagnosed with HF. However, the increasing prevalence of HF is interlinked with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and T2D. Farxiga still has a significant advantage over Jardiance as it is approved to treat CKD in addition to HF in patients with or without T2D, while Jardiance is not.

Patel adds: “Despite Jardiance not having the same approval as Farxiga, it is likely that Jardiance will capture an increased market share in the EU for the treatment of HF, with or without T2D. This share will increase once Lilly and BI are able to determine its efficacy for treating CKD, which is currently in Phase III trials.”

As the competition for dominance in the HF market increases, there is an urgency to gain approval for the treatment of HF across the SGLT2-I class, which has traditionally been prescribed for T2D. Key opinion leaders (KOLs) interviewed by GlobalData have reported their enthusiasm for the approval of SGLT2-Is for the treatment of HF. This is due to clinical data demonstrating a significant benefit of these inhibitors, especially in patients suffering from both T2D and HF.

* SGLT2-Is decrease sodium uptake in the kidneys and reduce the risk of HF.