EASi-KIDNEY™ (The Studies of Heart & Kidney Protection With BI 690517 in Combination With Empagliflozin)

This study is open to adults with chronic kidney disease at risk of progression. People with and without type 2 diabetes can take part in this study. The study is open to people who take other medicines called angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB). People who already take empagliflozin or any other sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) can also join. The study is also open to people who currently do not take any of these treatments. The purpose of this study is to find out whether a medicine called BI 690517 helps people with chronic kidney disease when taken in combination with a study medicine called empagliflozin. Worsening of kidney function increases the risk for kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, and heart failure hospitalisation.

After a run-in period, during which participants are confirmed to be receiving clinically appropriate renin-angiotensin system blockade and are established on empagliflozin, they are randomly assigned (by chance) to 1 of 2 groups. One group receives BI 690517 tablets, and the other group receives placebo tablets. Placebo tablets look like BI 690517 but do not contain any medicine. Participants take 1 study tablet once a day, in addition to empagliflozin, for the duration of the study.

The doctors document when participants experience worsening of their kidney disease, go to hospital due to heart failure, or die of cardiovascular problems during the study. The time to these events is compared between the 2 treatment groups to see whether the treatment works. The study continues until the required number of events have occurred which is about 3 to 4 years. During this time, participants visit the study site about 5 times within the first 6 months. Then they visit the study site every 6 months. At the visits, doctors regularly check participants' health, take blood and urine samples, measure blood pressure and weight, check kidney function, and take note of any unwanted effects.