Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced plans to conduct two outcome trials investigating the diabetes medicine Jardiance®(empagliflozin) for the treatment of people with chronic heart failure. The trials are targeted to begin within the next 12 months and are planned to enroll people with chronic heart failure both with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D).

JARDIANCE was the first diabetes treatment to demonstrate a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular (CV) death in a dedicated CV outcomes trial. This was demonstrated on top of standard of care (including glucose-lowering agents and CV drugs) in people with T2D at high risk of CV events. In addition to reducing CV death by 38 percent, the EMPA-REG OUTCOME® trial also showed that JARDIANCE reduced the risk of hospitalization for heart failure in people with T2D at high risk of CV events. These results led to the planned trials.

"The EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial demonstrated that JARDIANCE reduces the risk of cardiovascular death in diabetes patients at high CV risk, and we now look forward to exploring whether JARDIANCE can also provide heart failure benefits," said Professor Hans-Juergen Woerle, global vice president medicine, Boehringer Ingelheim.

"One in two people with heart failure die within five years of diagnosis, so there is currently a compelling need for an effective therapy to treat those suffering from this condition," said Javed Butler, M.D., cardiologist, Stony Brook University Hospital.

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