The Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa) has granted reimbursement for empagliflozin, developed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, for once-daily administration in 10 and 25 mg tablets.
Empagliflozin, which received marketing authorization from the European Commission in May 2014, belongs to the class of inhibitors of SGLT2, a transporter protein responsible for approximately 90% of reabsorption by the kidney of filtered glucose from blood. SGLT2 overexpression is observed in people with type 2 diabetes, which contributes to elevated blood glucose levels.
Empagliflozin reduces the ability of the kidney to reabsorb glucose, inducing its excretion in the urine, with the advantage of reducing glycemic values and HbA1c and inducing weight loss and a decrease in blood pressure.
«La terapia del diabete tipo 2 si arricchisce di un altro inibitore del riassorbimento renale di glucosio» commenta Stefano Del Prato, direttore dell’Unità di Malattie del metabolismo e diabetologia al Dipartimento di Medicina clinica e sperimentale dell’Università di Pisa. «Questa classe di farmaci ha ribaltato un vecchio concetto che noi medici avevano imparato sui banchi – precisa – e cioè che la glicosuria era un indice di scompenso glicemico. Ora l’eliminazione di glucosio attraverso il rene assume una connotazione positiva».