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This measure supports work to reduce low value prescribing in hospitals.
The proportion of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors (excluding combination products) not prescribed as dapagliflozin tablets. Combination products are excluded as they do not have specified Defined Daily Doses (DDDs) and the quantity of SGLT-2 inhibitors issued as combinations is low.
There is a similar measure on OpenPrescribing for primary care, which reports the use of generic dapagliflozin. In OpenPrescribing Hospitals, branded and generic products cannot be distinguished. For this reason, we report dapagliflozin use as a proportion of all SGLT-2 inhibitor use.
We identify all SGLT-2 inhibitor products using Virtual Therapeutic Moieties (VTM) codes. The quantity of each product issued as DDDs is calculated. We then divide the DDDs of SGLT-2 inhibtors excluding dapagliflozin by the total DDDs of all SGLT-2 inhibitors and then multiply that by 100 to obtain a percentage each month.
Dapagliflozin is a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor commonly prescribed in type 2 diabetes, the treatment of chronic heart failure, and chronic kidney disease.
Dapagliflozin lost its patent in August 2025. From September 2025 the NHS tariff price is likely to fall, as it will be based on the generic price, rather than the branded product. NICE guidance on the treatment of diabetes states that if 2 drugs in the same class are appropriate, choose the option with the lowest acquisition cost. Dapagliflozin is likely to have cost-saving opportunities when compared with other SGLT-2s.
Note: Dapagliflozin was licensed for the treatment of chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in February 2021, and later for chronic kidney disease in July 2025. Empagliflozin was also licensed for the treatment of chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in March 2022 and for chronic kidney disease in December 2023. Increasing use of dapagliflozin (and therefore reduction in the proportion of SGLT-2 inhibitors not prescribed as dapagliflozin) is the likely reason for the pattern seen in this measure prior to September 2025.
Trusts are only included in this measure if they have issued any products included in the denominator for this measure.
For this measure, 220/227 Trusts are included. A full list of Trusts included is available on the Submission History page.