Farxiga’s (dapagliflozin) recent approvals will help a broader range of patients with heart failure (HF) in the US. Resultantly, AstraZeneca is expected to see a significant boost in its revenues.  Farxiga is expected to have such a strong influence on the market due to the impressive results and valuable evidence seen in recent trials. The drug fills an unmet need in the HF space by substantially reducing mortality and hospital readmission rates while maintaining tolerability and safety, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Kajal Jaddoo, Senior Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Farxiga has paved the way for the establishment of a sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor class effect in HF, which is expected to drive further research and development in this area. The ideal HF therapy must demonstrate regenerative potential, repair cardiac damage, and reverse disease progression. However, regenerative therapies come with high price tags, and since highly priced drugs have struggled to penetrate the HF market, this may deter drug developers from pursuing such a therapy.”

AstraZeneca recently announced that Farxiga has been approved in the US for the risk of cardiovascular death, hospitalization for HF, and urgent heart failure visits in adults with HF. Farxiga’s recent FDA approvals were supported by the DELIVER Phase III trial. The trial demonstrated that Farxiga reduced the risk of hospitalization and mortality from a cardiovascular event by 18% in patients with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction. In addition, the safety and tolerability profiles were consistent with the well-established safety profile of the medicine.

Jaddoo concludes: “Farxiga is an oral SGLT2 inhibitor previously approved for HF with reduced ejection fraction in adults. The drug is expected to see an increase in uptake with the approval of additional indications, granting AstraZeneca a majority share of the total HF market.”