Data from a Phase 2b study suggests that bardoxolone methyl, an investigational treatment for chronic kidney disease (CKD), may reduce the stage of CKD and improve estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and other measures of kidney function in the majority of patients receiving the drug. Reata Pharmaceuticals and Abbott presented the new findings at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Renal Week Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Bardoxolone methyl is an antioxidant inflammation modulator (AIM) that activates Nrf2, thereby inducing the transcription of genes that decrease the level of oxidative stress and suppress important inflammatory mediators. In two Phase 2a studies, bardoxolone methyl was shown to increase measures of kidney function in patients with moderate to severe CKD and type 2 diabetes.
The study evaluated patients with moderate (stage 3b) to severe (stage 4) CKD and type 2 diabetes. Approximately 60 percent of the patients receiving bardoxolone methyl experienced a reduction in the classification of the severity of their disease after 24 weeks of treatment. Only 17 percent of patients in the placebo group experienced such a reduction. Additionally, only four percent of patients in each bardoxolone methyl group experienced a worsening of CKD stage compared to 13 percent in the placebo group.
