CHRONIC kidney disease (CKD) is a condition where the kidneys are already damaged and starting to lose their ability to function, according to Dr. Carmela Luisa Pagunsan, country medical director at Bayer Philippines. The kidney’s primary function is to filter waste products from the blood.
At a Bayer press conference on CKD and the introduction of new drug Finerenone (Frialta), Pagunsan said that the two most common causes of CKD are high blood pressure or hypertension and diabetes. CKD worsens over time and it has no cure. However, there are measures available today to help preserve kidney function as much as possible.
Pagunsan mentioned the eight golden rules for preventing CKD: be active, eat a healthy diet, check and control blood sugar, check and control blood pressure, maintain appropriate fluid intake, don’t smoke, don’t take over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatory/painkiller pills regularly, and get kidney function checked if there are high-risk factors.
“If you look at them, they’re quite general, and they are easily applicable to just keeping our basic general health for all our organs and body parts, so to speak,” she said.
But, she focused on not taking OTC pills on a regular basis because many OTC drugs are toxic to the kidneys. “One of which would be anti-inflammatory drugs or pain relievers. You cannot take them in perpetuity; you can only take them when the acute pain indication is there, and for no more than seven days. Beyond that, one runs the risk of hurting or harming the kidneys irreversibly,” she explained.
She also mentioned that many food supplements are being marketed left and right online and through mainstream media. “Now we do not know the ingredients of these food supplements that are meant to build up your immunity or make you lose weight,” she said, adding that these are dangerous, particularly if they are just sold on online platforms and not registered with the Food and Drug Administration such that their toxic effects on the kidneys, the liver, and even the heart are not determined.
As for the last golden rule, if one has diabetes, high blood pressure or hypertension, overweight or obese, or has any family history of kidney diseases, “then you need to be more aggressive, consult your doctor, and ask or demand for CKD screening,” she advised.
During the roundtable discussion, Pagunsan introduced Finerenone (Frialta) as their main therapy offering for CKD patients to complement the blood pressure-lowering drugs and the glucose-lowering drugs that are already available.
“With Finerenone (Frialta), we now have this particular therapy which will uniquely address inflammation and fibrosis that are happening in the kidneys and other important organs of the body,” she said. “And with this, we will be able to give our patients both kidney- and cardio-protective effects that they need at this particular point in the course of their condition.”
She explained that Finerenone (Frialta) works on the mineralocorticoid receptors (MR), which are found in the heart, in the blood vessels, and in the kidneys. What happens is that when this particular receptor is activated, it results in increased sodium retention. When one has sodium retention, it attracts water, the blood pressure goes up, resulting in hypertension. When the MR receptor is activated, this also provokes inflammation in the cells. When one has inflammation, the walls of their blood vessels thicken which can bring about the development of blood clots that can impede or compromise the blood circulation in the different parts of the body.
“Fibrosis… If the MR receptor is activated, the effect of that on fibrosis is that you will have unnecessary scarring of tissues lining the heart muscles, the blood vessels, and the kidneys,” she added. Scarring in these important tissues and organs affects contraction, contractility, relaxation of the muscles; this can also narrow the passageway or arteries. So with MR activation, all of these negative effects at the cellular level, at the tissue level, will occur.
The use of Finerenone (Frialta), which blocks the activation of your mineralocorticoid receptor, “results in very tangible patient benefits like a delay in the progression of dialysis and a delay or a reduction in the incidence of a heart attack and other cardiovascular negative outcomes,” Pagunsan stressed.
She shared that Finerenone (Frialta) is now officially launched in the Philippines. It is approved for use allowing patients to have a reduction or a delay in the progression to dialysis, a reduction in end-stage kidney disease, a reduction in cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack, and hospitalization for heart failure in adults with CKD associated with type two diabetes.
“With Frialta, we have a new pillar; a third pillar of treatment in managing CKD among type two diabetic patients, specifically targeting inflammation and fibrosis, which used to be an unmet need for our conditions,” she pointed out.
The challenge in managing this condition is formidable, such that the company is proud to introduce a new therapy that will benefit Filipino patients with CKD due to Type 2 diabetes, said Angel Michael Evangelista, managing director and country division head for Pharmaceuticals at Bayer. Evangelista also said that the recent figures show that one Filipino develops chronic renal failure every hour, and that there are more than 4.3 million Filipino adults who have diabetes today. This translates to approximately 1.4 million CKD patients suffering from diabetes or one-third of the total number of diabetics.
Finerenone (Frialta) represents their latest commitment to bringing innovative products to the Philippines and to making a meaningful impact on the lives of Filipino patients, Evangelista mentioned.
“We recognize that there are unmet needs among those with CKD, and so Bayer proudly brings hope for a better quality of life to the Philippines today,” he added.
With the launch of Finerenone (Frialta), the company aims to promote kidney and cardiovascular health for CKD patients with Type 2 diabetes. “It is one step, one move that, when combined with the current standard of care, can slow down the progression of CKD, lessening the burden on our patients and their families who are already challenged physically, emotionally, and financially in coping with the multiple complications arising from their conditions,” Evangelista noted.
There is ongoing research on Finerenone (Firialta) for both Type 1 diabetics and non-diabetics. However, for now, it is approved for use in CKD caused by Type 2 diabetes.
