OBJECTIVE: To review available studies of empagliflozin, a sodium glucose 
co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor approved in 2014 by the European Commission 
and the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of type 2 
diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
DATA SOURCES: PubMed was searched using the search terms empagliflozin, BI 
10773, and BI10773, for entries between January 1, 2000, and December 1, 2014. 
Reference lists from retrieved articles were searched manually for additional 
peer-reviewed publications.
STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: All publications reporting clinical trials 
of empagliflozin were eligible for inclusion.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Empagliflozin is a new once-daily oral SGLT2 inhibitor with a 
mechanism of action that is independent of β-cell function and the insulin 
pathway. Data from a comprehensive phase III clinical trial program have 
demonstrated its efficacy as monotherapy, as add-on to other glucose-lowering 
agents, and in different patient populations. In these studies, empagliflozin 
resulted in improvements in blood glucose levels as well as reductions in body 
weight and blood pressure. Empagliflozin was well tolerated and was not 
associated with an increased risk of hypoglycemia versus placebo.
CONCLUSION: The oral antidiabetes agent, empagliflozin, can be used as 
monotherapy or alongside other glucose-lowering treatments, including insulin, 
to treat T2DM.