Welcome to the EMPA-KIDNEY trial's website. EMPA-KIDNEY was a clinical trial testing whether taking a single pill of empagliflozin every day prevents worsening of kidney disease or deaths from heart disease in people who have chronic kidney disease. The trial was stopped early due to evidence of efficacy and results were reported in November 2022. Please see our News page for details of the results. Please also see the Downloads section for participant newsletters and slidesets from our main and substudy presentations (feel free to use them). EMPA-KIDNEY is now in an observational post-trial follow-up phase. These results are expected to be available in late 2024.

Learn about our data protection policy and read our Privacy Notice.

CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common condition, affecting perhaps as much as 10% of the UK and US adult populations. It is diagnosed and monitored by means of blood and urine tests. CKD has many causes, the commonest of which in the UK are increasing age, diabetes, high blood pressure, inflammation in the kidney and inherited diseases. It is known that people with kidney disease are both at risk of their kidney problem worsening and developing heart problems.

STUDY RATIONALE

EMPA-KIDNEY was designed to test a medication called empagliflozin which was originally developed to treat high blood sugar in people with diabetes. Empagliflozin causes blood sugar (equivalent to 10 teaspoons a day) to pass into the urine. It likely also increases the amount of salt (sodium) passing into the urine. This results in a modest fall in body weight and blood pressure. 

In 2015, a large clinical trial showed that empagliflozin reduces the number of deaths from heart disease in people who already have both heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The same study suggested empagliflozin might reduce kidney problems. From the way we think the pills work, there is good reason to believe this new medication could benefit people who have kidney disease, whether they have diabetes or not and across a broad range of causes of kidney disease.

STUDY DESIGN

EMPA-KIDNEY was a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of empagliflozin versus matching placebo in 6,609 people with chronic kidney disease, with or without diabetes. 

Information about the study for people with chronic kidney disease can be found in our FAQ section.

Information about the study and empagliflozin for healthcare professionals can be found in our Professionals section.

Our protocol, pre-specified data analysis plans and other participant newsletters (in multiple languages) can be downloaded from the Downloads page.

我们最新的《受试者新闻简报》[中文版/日文版]可以从下载页面下载。

参加者ニュースレターの最新版は Downloads ページからダウンロードできます

Surat berita peserta terkini kami (dalam Bahasa Melayu) boleh dimuat turun dari halaman Muat Turun