Optimizing Albuminuria Treatment in CKD With Finerenone and Semaglutide

What Was Tested

This registered phase 2 trial tested Semaglutide.

The FINESSE-CKD trial investigates a personalized approach to the treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) by comparing the effects of finerenone and semaglutide on albuminuria.

It had two arms (groups): Finerenone (monotherapy) first (experimental) and Semaglutide (monotherapy) first (experimental).

6 weeks finerenone monotherapy → 6-week wash-out → 12 weeks semaglutide monotherapy → 6 weeks finerenone + semaglutide combination therapy → 6-week wash-out.

12 weeks semaglutide monotherapy → 6 weeks finerenone + semaglutide combination therapy → 6-week wash-out → 6 weeks finerenone monotherapy → 6-week wash-out.

The registry classes the interventions as drug.

More on the Plan

The FINESSE-CKD trial investigates whether treatment for chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be personalized based on an individual patient's response to finerenone and semaglutide.

Participants will receive finerenone and semaglutide according to the study treatment schedule, allowing the response to each treatment to be assessed within the same individual.

The study will also evaluate whether combined treatment with finerenone and semaglutide provides additional albuminuria lowering compared with the individually selected treatment.

Participants will perform selected measurements and urine collections at home, including monitoring of body weight and blood pressure.

Who Took Part

Enrollment: 41 actual participants took part.

It was open to people of any sex aged from 18 years with no upper age limit.

Healthy volunteers were not accepted; participants needed the condition being studied.

Examples of who could join: Age ≥18 years. Willing to sign an informed consent.

The full record lists 7 inclusion and 30 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: diagnosis of type 1 diabetes; acute coronary syndrome event within 6 months; active pregnancy or breastfeeding.

How the Study Was Run

Design: randomized, crossover and open-label.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Semaglutide group and the comparison group should start out alike.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Semaglutide and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

Being open-label, the Semaglutide study did not mask who received what.

It started in 2025-02-11 with completion listed for 2026-08-31.

It ran at 6 sites in Italy (2), Spain (2), Denmark (1) and Netherlands (1).

Its stated primary purpose is treatment.

What Was Measured

It also tracked 2 secondary outcomes, for example Percentage change in UACR and Number of missed urine collection in the remote (@home) setting.

What This Means in Plain Language

Put simply, this is a phase 2, randomized trial of Semaglutide in 41 people.

The trial is marked completed; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.

More context: the Semaglutide compound page, all human trials.