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A new China trial, not yet recruiting, will test in 266 people whether pairing finerenone with semaglutide helps people with obesity and kidney disease who don't have diabetes.
A Phase 4 trial in Poland is recruiting 100 people with type 2 diabetes who are not on GLP-1 drugs to test whether pancreatin, a digestive enzyme, improves blood sugar.
One new clinical trial asks whether semaglutide works better with a partner drug than it does alone, and another tests a digestive enzyme for blood sugar. The first, not yet recruiting in China, will pair semaglutide with a kidney drug for people with obesity who do not have diabetes. The other, in Poland, is recruiting people with type 2 diabetes who are not taking GLP-1 drugs to test a digestive enzyme supplement. If you take a GLP-1 drug, these trials point to where research is heading next.
The China trial focuses on a specific group: adults with obesity and chronic kidney disease with albuminuria who do not have diabetes. Finerenone is a drug used to protect the kidneys, and researchers in this 266-person, placebo-controlled study want to know if combining it with semaglutide from the start works better than semaglutide alone for this population. The trial has not yet begun recruiting, so there are no results to review and no timeline for when participants will be enrolled. For people managing both obesity and kidney disease, this is a study worth watching as it moves toward recruitment, since it targets a combination that has not been tested together in this way.
The pancreatin trial is further along and is now recruiting 100 people with type 2 diabetes in Poland. Pancreatin is a digestive enzyme supplement, and this phase 4 trial will test whether adding it to standard diabetes medicines improves blood sugar control compared with a placebo. People taking GLP-1 drugs now or in the last three months are not eligible. Researchers are interested in pancreatin partly because it may raise the body's own levels of GLP-1 and GIP, the hormones these drugs copy. Phase 4 trials study products already on the market, so the focus here is on a new use for an existing enzyme rather than a new medication. People with type 2 diabetes who are not on a GLP-1 drug can look up the trial listing for eligibility details and enrollment status.
Neither trial has produced results yet, so there is nothing here to act on directly. What these two studies show is that researchers are testing whether semaglutide works better paired with a kidney drug, and whether a digestive enzyme can help blood sugar in people who are not on GLP-1 drugs. If you fall into either population, obesity with kidney disease or type 2 diabetes without GLP-1 therapy, it may be worth mentioning these trials to your doctor or checking back as they progress. Research like this takes time, and early recruitment status means real answers are still a way off.
Originally published on GLP1Laws.
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