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Japan approves AstraZeneca’s Forxiga for chronic heart failure

pharmafile | November 30, 2020 | News story | Sales and Marketing AstraZeneca, Forxiga 

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has announced the authorisation of AstraZeneca’s Forxiga as a treatment for chronic heart failure in patients currently receiving standard of care.

The Phase 3 data supporting the decision were published in The New England Journal of Medicine. They revealed that, when combined with standard of care, Forxiga reduced the risk of the composite outcome by 26% compared to placebo. According to AstraZeneca, the drug is the first SGLT2 inhibitor to have shown this kind of benefit.

“Heart failure is a condition affecting 1.3 million people in Japan. Many patients have considerably reduced heart function, such as left ventricular reduced ejection fraction. Approximately half of patients will die within five years of diagnosis, which is worse than some cancers,” explained Masafumi Kitakaze, an investigator on the trial and Director of Hanwa Daini Senboku Hospital, as well as Guest Professor of the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Osaka. “With no known cure except for heart transplant, a new effective treatment option on top of the current standard of care may offer hope for people struggling with this disease and a new tool for cardiologists.”

This latest approval in Japan is added to the growing list of nations where Forxiga is authorised for use as a treatment for heart failure, including the US and Europe.

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Matt Fellows

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