New trial aims to improve health of people with kidney disease

The first patients have been in enrolled in EASi-KIDNEY, a new international trial which will investigate if combining a new drug with existing treatments can reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progressing, as well as lessen the risk of patients suffering heart failure and death from cardiovascular disease.

The trial builds on the EMPA-KIDNEY trial, which showed that use of the drug empagliflozin (Jardiance®) reduces the risk of progression of CKD or death from cardiovascular disease by 28% in people with CKD. Last November, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued guidance recommending the use of empagliflozin as an option for treating adults with CKD.

The EASi-KIDNEY trial is run by Oxford Population Health’s Renal Studies Group and will investigate whether a combination of empagliflozin and a new drug called vicadrostat (also known as BI 690517), alongside standard medical care, could have a further positive impact on people living with CKD.

The researchers aim to recruit 11,000 people across multiple countries for a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial. The results of the study are not expected until 2028 or 2029 and will be part of a long process of developing and assessing new treatments.

The EASi-KIDNEY trial will be the first to use a new clinical trial management platform developed by non-profit organisation Protas, which it is hoped will facilitate the design and delivery of large-scale, high quality clinical trials at a lower cost.