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- Published on: 24 March 2020
- Published on: 24 March 2020Industry sponsorship bias in the SGLT2 inhibitor study
The EBM Verdict by O'Sullivan on the CREDENCE trial of canagliflozin and renal outcomes (1) concluded that "Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors appear effective to reduce cardiovascular events and deterioration of renal disease in patients with type 2 diabetes and renal impairment." O'Sullivan stated that the study was well-conducted based on conventional assessments of validity (blinding, randomization method, choice of outcomes). However, an important overlooked source of potential bias was not mentioned. The CREDENCE study was sponsored by the pharmaceutical company (Janssen). The analyses of the data was conducted by Janssen, and important conflicts of interest were reported by authors of the paper. A Cochrane review of the relationship of industry sponsorship and research results (2) found significantly more favorable efficacy results in studies by the manufacturing company than sponsorship by other sources, and that the industry bias could not be explained by other "risk of bias" assessments. This important source of bias warrants caution in the interpretation of the results in the absence of independent (non-industry sponsored) data.
1. Perkovic V. et. al. Canagliflozin and Renal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes and Nephropathy. CREDENCE Trial Investigators. N Engl J Med 2019;380:2295–2306.
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2. Lundh A, Lexchin J, Mintzes B, Schroll JB, Bero L. Industry sponsorship and research outcome. Cochrane Database of Systema...Conflict of Interest:
None declared.