Finerenone Shown to Benefit Heart and Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Key takeaways:
- Finerenone (brand name Kerendia) is an oral medication approved for people with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.
- New research shows that finerenone also reduces the risk of new-onset diabetes in people with heart failure.
- This promising data suggests that finerenone will likely be approved for heart failure and reducing type 2 diabetes risk in the future.
Research finds that finerenone may offer benefits beyond treating chronic kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes.
A 2025 study found that finerenone also reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with heart failure by about 25%. An earlier 2024 study found that the medication also showed heart health benefits, delaying the progression of heart failure and reducing the risk of cardiovascular death.
“Hopefully, reducing the incidence of new-onset diabetes means that these heart failure patients might have a better quality of life and be at lower subsequent risk of hospitalization and death,” said Dr. John McMurray, a professor of cardiology at the University of Glasgow and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
What do these research findings mean?
This encouraging data comes from the FINEARTS-HF clinical trial, which was sponsored by Bayer and included more than 6,000 subjects from dozens of countries with and without type 2 diabetes. Participants were randomized to receive either finerenone (20 or 40 mg daily, depending on kidney function) or a placebo in addition to their existing medications.
Data from the trial showed that finerenone reduced worsening heart failure events, such as unplanned hospitalization or urgent visits for heart failure, as well as cardiovascular-related death by 16% when compared with the placebo. Further analysis demonstrated that finerenone also reduced the incidence of new-onset type 2 diabetes by approximately 25% in patients with heart failure.
A potential new first-line treatment for heart failure
Heart failure is a serious and progressive condition. It is also one of the most common complications of diabetes.
To date, treatment options for heart failure have been extremely limited. In the past, a class of drugs known as steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) have been used to treat it, but their effectiveness in delaying the progression of heart failure is limited.
“We did not have clear evidence that drugs in this class are effective in [heart failure] patients with an ejection fraction above 40%,” McMurray explained (ejection fraction measures how much blood your heart pumps per beat).
The FINEARTS-HF trial proved that finerenone can delay the progression of certain common types of heart failure. Finerenone is a non-steroidal MRA – currently the only one in its drug class. While more expensive, it has a different chemical structure from older steroidal MRAs, as well as fewer side effects.
Reducing the risk of developing diabetes
Heart failure can increase the risk for diabetes – and vice versa. That means for people managing heart failure without diabetes, finerenone offers additional protection in lowering the risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes.
“There is clearly a detrimental relationship between heart failure and diabetes that has a huge and harmful impact on symptoms and outcomes in patients,” McMurray said.
He added that participants who received finerenone reported an improved quality of life, fewer symptoms, and the ability to do more.
Currently, finerenone is approved in the U.S. only for adults with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes. This new research suggests that the drug will also likely be approved for heart failure in the future. Additional trials are ongoing to assess finerenone in treating other types of heart failure, as well as for chronic kidney disease in type 1 diabetes.
Learn more about finerenone and its potential benefits here: