Could an asthma drug slow kidney damage in diabetes?

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Adults aged 18-75 * Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes according to American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria * On stable medical therapy for at least 3 months * Stage CKD G2 to G3b; A2-A3 as defined by eGFR with no requirement for renal biopsy for diagnosis * Diabetic kidney disease as per Nephrologist * Urinary albumin to creatinine excretion rate (UACR) 200-5000 mg/g/24hrs on at least two occasions (one of these can be a spot UACR) * HbA1c \<8% * Receiving stable doses of ACE inhibitor or ARB therapy prior to screening (at least 3 months, unless contraindicated) and/or a stable dose of an SGLT inhibitor (at least 3 months preceding enrollment) * Receiving stable doses of all additional anti-HTN medications, insulin, oral and injectable non-insulin agents and cholesterol lowering medications at least 3 months prior (unless contraindicated) to randomization and agree to maintain until the study's conclusion. * Willing and able to comply with schedule of events and protocol requirements, including written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Female subjects who are pregnant or breast feeding or who plan on becoming pregnant * Currently take beta-agonists * Organ transplant recipients * Any history of New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III/IV heart failure or recent history of serious heart problem (CABG, stroke, MI) in the past 12 months * Any history of asthma * Patients with serum potassium levels \<3.5 mEQ/L * Patients with uncontrolled HTN SBP \>150mmHg, DBP \>95mmHg * EKG showing QTc elongation or tachyarrhythmia; including sinus tachycardia \>100bpm * Contraindications to formoterol fumarate (hypersensitivity, including patients with known hypersensitivity to ACE inhibitors or ARBs) * Advanced organ failure * Untreated/uncontrolled cardiovascular, pulmonary, or gastrointestinal disease * Patients with BMI \>50 * Active untreated cancer * Alcohol or drug abuse in the past 6 months * Being involuntarily incarcerated * Participating in another interventional study * Unable or unwilling to do the 36-week intervention