The SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin is well-tolerated in adults hospitalized with COVID-19, regardless of diabetes status, according to new analyses from the DARE-19 trial.

The main findings from DARE-19, first presented in May, showed dapagliflozin (Farxiga, AstraZeneca) did not significantly reduce risk for organ failure or death or improve recovery among adults hospitalized with COVID-19 vs. placebo, although data showed lower event numbers among patients treated with dapagliflozin compared with placebo. However, the ever-evolving dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging to accrue a large number of events in DARE-19, as the standard of care for hospitalized patients rapidly improved and fewer hospitalized patients experienced organ failure or death, according to Mikhail Kosiborod, MD, FACC, FAHA, a cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute and professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.

In new analyses presented at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions, researchers demonstrated that these observations were consistent among patients with type 2 diabetes — about half of patients in the trial — and without type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, patients treated with dapagliflozin experienced numerically fewer adverse events during the trial than those who received placebo. This included acute kidney injury events and was again consistent among those with and without type 2 diabetes.

Read the full Healio article: DARE-19: Dapagliflozin well-tolerated for inpatient COVID-19 with, without diabetes