National Kidney Month 2026: Breakthrough Kidney Disease Therapies

This March, National Kidney Month 2026 shines a spotlight on kidney health and the millions of people living with kidney disease worldwide.

And March 12 is World Kidney Day. The 2026 theme of World Kidney Day is “Kidney Health for All: Caring for People, Protecting the Planet.” It emphasizes the need to improve prevention, early detection and equitable access to kidney care while also recognizing that environmental factors, such as pollution, climate change and resource-intensive treatments like dialysis, are closely linked to kidney health and healthcare sustainability.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious condition that affects around 35.5 million people in the US and around 10% of the global population.

Often overlooked until symptoms appear, CKD is progressive and can increase the risk for serious health complications, including heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. Adopting a healthy lifestyle can help manage CKD and prevent its complications from progressing.

For decades, treatment options were limited largely to controlling blood pressure, managing diabetes and ultimately dialysis or transplantation in advanced disease.

Current Breakthroughs in Kidney Disease Treatment

Historically, CKD treatment primarily focused on managing underlying risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, with limited options to directly slow disease progression.

In recent years, several disease-modifying therapies have entered the market, offering new hope for patients.

Bayer’s Kerendia (finerenone), a non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, has been shown in Phase III trials such as FIDELIO-DKD and FIGARO-DKD to slow CKD progression and reduce cardiovascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes. Research is now expanding its use to explore benefits in CKD associated with type 1 diabetes.

Similarly, SGLT2 inhibitors, including dapagliflozin (Farxiga, developed by AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb) and empagliflozin (Jardiance, developed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly), were originally approved for type 2 diabetes but have demonstrated significant kidney-protective effects.

Clinical trials such as DAPA-CKD and EMPA-KIDNEY have shown that these drugs slow kidney function decline, reduce the risk of hospitalization for heart failure and lower progression to end-stage kidney disease, establishing SGLT2 inhibitors as a cornerstone of modern CKD management.

Ongoing research is also exploring combination therapies, pairing SGLT2 inhibitors with finerenone, to determine whether targeting multiple pathways simultaneously can provide enhanced protection against kidney damage and cardiovascular complications.

New Therapies for Rare Kidney Diseases

Rare kidney diseases such as IgA nephropathy (IgAN) have been gaining increasing attention in the kidney disease treatment landscape as new targeted therapies emerge. Several novel treatments have been approved for IgAN over the past couple of years.

Recent approvals include Travere Therapeutics’ Filspari (sparsentan) and Calliditas Therapeutics’ Tarpeyo (budesonide), approved in 2023 and 2024, respectively, which are both oral therapies that help reduce proteinuria and kidney inflammation in patients with IgAN.

Novartis’ Fabhalta (iptacopan) has been steadily racking up approvals since its first one in 2023 for reducing proteinuria in the rare blood disorder paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). It received FDA nods in primary IgAN and complement 3 glomerulopathy (C3G) in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Fabhalta works by inhibiting the complement pathway to target immune-mediated kidney injury.

Meanwhile, Otsuka’s monoclonal antibody Voyxact (sibeprenlimab-szsi), approved in December 2025, has demonstrated the ability to reduce proteinuria by more than 50% in clinical trials.

GLP-1 Drugs Show Kidney Protective Benefits

GLP-1 receptor agonists, widely known for their role in treating type 2 diabetes and obesity, are also emerging as promising therapies in kidney disease.

The drugs have demonstrated benefits beyond blood sugar control, including reducing inflammation, improving metabolic health and lowering cardiovascular risk, all of which are important factors in protecting kidney function.

GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Trulicity (dulaglutide), have been shown to be effective at slowing CKD progression, reducing kidney failure risk by about 16% and lowering cardiovascular risks in type 2 diabetes patients.

Last year, Novo’s Ozempic became the first GLP-1 drug to receive FDA approval.

in a kidney indication, specifically approved for reducing the risk of kidney failure, progression of kidney disease and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes and CKD. In the FLOW trial, it reduced the risk of major kidney disease events by about 24% in patients with diabetes and CKD.

Lilly’s dual GIP/GLP‑1 agonist tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) has demonstrated reduced albuminuria and slower eGFR decline in exploratory analyses from cardiovascular outcome studies (e.g., SURPASS‑4), with dedicated renal outcome studies underway.

Lilly’s next-gen, once-weekly injectable GLP-1 retatrutide is also showing promise in cardiometabolic indications. The “triple agonist” (targeting GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors) has shown significant potential for treating obesity, type 2 diabetes and related conditions like knee osteoarthritis. It even outperformed the company’s blockbuster obesity Zepbound (tirzepatide) in a late‑stage Phase III trial by producing greater average weight loss (about 28.7% of body weight) and larger reductions in osteoarthritis‑related knee pain. Its positive metabolic effects make it a candidate for future kidney disease investigation.

Novel Kidney Disease Drugs on the Horizon

The kidney disease space is continuing to expand rapidly, with novel therapies designed to intervene in the mechanisms driving disease progression rather than merely managing symptoms.

Anti‑Inflammatory Biologics

One of the most promising anti‑inflammatory approaches in kidney disease involves targeting interleukin‑6 (IL‑6), a cytokine implicated in chronic inflammation, atherosclerosis and renal injury. Regeneron and Sanofi’s ziltivekimab is currently in Phase III clinical trials for patients with CKD and elevated cardiovascular risk. Early data have shown that ziltivekimab significantly reduces key inflammatory biomarkers such as high‑sensitivity C‑reactive protein (hsCRP), and ongoing studies are evaluating whether this translates into slower kidney function decline and fewer cardiovascular events.

Endothelin Pathway Inhibitors

The endothelin system plays a key role in mediating fibrosis, vasoconstriction and proteinuria. Zibotentan, an oral endothelin A receptor antagonist developed by AstraZeneca, is being investigated for kidney disease, particularly IgAN and other proteinuric disorders. In combination with standard therapies, including SGLT2 inhibitors such as Jardiance (empagliflozin) and Farxiga (dapagliflozin), endothelin pathway inhibition may more effectively reduce proteinuria and slow kidney scarring. Zibotentan’s clinical programs include Phase II and III studies assessing kidney function outcomes and tolerability in high‑risk patient populations.

RNA‑Based Therapies and Gene‑Targeted Approaches

Advances in RNA technologies have led to therapies that directly modulate gene expression, offering the potential to treat underlying genetic kidney diseases. For example, Otsuka’s tolvaptan, while not an RNA therapy, set an early precedent for targeted treatment in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) by slowing cyst growth.

Building on this, companies such as Ionis Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiary Akcea Therapeutics are advancing antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) and siRNA platforms aimed at reducing pathogenic protein production in conditions like focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), rare nephrotic syndromes and complement‑mediated diseases.

In 2022, Ionis announced that its long‑standing partner Roche had licensed its investigational antisense therapy IONIS‑FB‑LRx for IgAN and would advance the drug into a Phase III clinical trial after positive Phase II data showing reduced proteinuria and a favorable safety profile.