BARCELONA—Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim, eager to keep pace with rivals, are out with new Jardiance kidney disease data in a patient population they say mirrors the one that could soon score Johnson & Johnson’s Invokana a new nod.

Tuesday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting, the partners presented results showing Jardiance’s positive effects on cardiovascular and kidney outcomes were consistent whether or not patients had advanced kidney disease.

BARCELONA—Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim, eager to keep pace with rivals, are out with new Jardiance kidney disease data in a patient population they say mirrors the one that could soon score Johnson & Johnson’s Invokana a new nod.

Tuesday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting, the partners presented results showing Jardiance’s positive effects on cardiovascular and kidney outcomes were consistent whether or not patients had advanced kidney disease.

BI and Lilly are hoping doctors agree as they look to boost sales of the SGLT2 contender. Despite snagging first-in-class status for a heart-helping indication on Jardiance’s label, the drug doesn’t have a big lead when it comes to sales. Its 2018 total of €1.46 billion ($1.61 billion) only narrowly topped the $1.39 billion haul from AstraZeneca’s Farxiga, which doesn’t even yet have a CV nod to its name.

Once-blockbuster Invokana, meanwhile, has seen sales steadily drop over the last two years, thanks to a boxed warning outlining its increased risk of lower-limb amputations. But the company is hoping that a kidney boost—expected from the FDA this year after a May priority review designation—can help get sales pumping.