Finerenone is still several years away from reaching the market, but at the same time, it has proven itself to be a lifesaver already. It is a new and improved version of an already existing class of heart drugs called mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs).
MRAs are drugs for use in patients with heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction. The only problem associated with this class of drugs, that include spironolactone and eplerenone, has been the occurrence of hyperkalemia, an unwanted risk that can cause irregular heart rates and even cardiac arrest.
This is one reason MRAs are not widely used today, even though they are more economical than repeated hospitalizations.
Frank Misselwitz, head of cardiovascular and coagulation therapeutics at Bayer, and the person overseeing the study said in an interview with Bloomberg, “The existing care is not being used enough because of safety concerns.”
Finerenone is the next-generation in a class of drugs that block the damaging effects of the hormone, aldosterone in patients with congestive heart failure, he said. One in five people can expect to develop congestive heart failure in their lifetime.
Moving into the final stage of the study, called FINESSE-HF, will compare finerenone to eplerenone, a generic medication in the MRA class. In this final stage, Finerenone will be used in clinical trials on patients with diabetic kidney disease, a common complication of diabetes.
Researchers will be focusing on two things, the cardiovascular impacts of finerenone, and the progression of kidney disease. These trials are “event driven,” meaning they will end when enough information is collected on Finerenone’s effects.
It is estimated that more than seven million people in the U.S. alone suffer from diabetic kidney disease. It is a common complication of diabetes and the primary cause of end-stage-renal-disease (ESRD) in Western countries. Additionally, over five million people in the U.S. suffer with congestive heart failure and die within five years of the diagnosis.
The statistics are alarming, and doubly so because of the unwanted affects of the MRAs available today. So a drug that can help people to avoid developing hyperkalemia (High potassium level) would be a wonderful addition to the medications needed to fight kidney disease and congestive heart failure.
Bayer AG presented the results of its Finerenone Phase IIB trials Monday, at the European Society of Cardiology conference in London.
