A kidney disease drug that was already considered a significant advance is now proving to be far more powerful — and far more widely applicable — than anyone expected. Three major international studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2026 European Renal Association Congress in Glasgow in June 2026 found that finerenone does not just help people with diabetic kidney disease — it also dramatically slows the progression of kidney disease and reduces the risk of heart failure, cardiovascular death, and overall mortality in patients who do not have diabetes. That finding potentially opens the door to treatment for millions of Americans who currently have limited options.
For Houston — a city that sits in one of the highest chronic kidney disease burden regions in the United States, driven by its large diabetic and hypertensive population — the news from Glasgow is personal. Harris County and the surrounding Houston metropolitan area consistently rank among Texas's highest CKD prevalence regions, with the Texas Department of State Health Services documenting that more than 1 in 7 Texas adults has some stage of CKD, and that Hispanic and Black Texans face disproportionately higher risks. Approximately 850,000 people in the greater Houston area are estimated to be living with some stage of kidney disease — many of them without a diagnosis.
