Doctors can now prescribe empagliflozin to patients with symptomatic heart failure, regardless of left ventricular ejection fraction, in addition to standard therapy. 

Last month, the TGA expanded the indication for the SGLT-2 inhibitor beyond management of type 2 diabetes, making it the first drug to be approved for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). 

The move follows results from the landmark EMPEROR-Preserved study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2021, that showed 10mg daily empagliflozin (Jardiance) cut the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalisation for worsening heart failure by 21% compared with placebo. 

The trial, funded by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, involved nearly 6000 patients with chronic heart failure and an ejection fraction of more than 40%.