Cost-effectiveness of once-weekly semaglutide versus dulaglutide and lixisenatide in patients

Ericsson Å & Fridhammar A

This analysis evaluated the cost-effectiveness of once-weekly semaglutide versus glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) uncontrolled on metformin or basal insulin in Sweden.

The cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) was conducted using the IHE Diabetes Cohort Model. Analyses were conducted from the Swedish societal perspective over a time horizon of 40 years. For patients uncontrolled on metformin, dulaglutide was the comparator, and data from the SUSTAIN 7 clinical trial was used. For patients uncontrolled on basal insulin, lixisenatide was chosen as the comparator and data was obtained from a network meta-analysis (NMA).

The results show that in patients with inadequate control on metformin, semaglutide 1.0 mg dominated (i.e., provided greater clinical benefit, and was less costly) dulaglutide 1.5 mg. In patients with inadequate control on basal insulin, semaglutide 1.0 mg dominated lixisenatide. The reduction in costs is largely driven by the reduction in complications seen with once-weekly semaglutide.

It is likely that this analysis is conservative in estimating the cardiovascular (CV) cost benefits associated with treatment with once-weekly semaglutide. In patients inadequately controlled on basal insulin, the analyses versus lixisenatide were based on results from an NMA, as no head-to-head clinical trial has been conducted for this comparison.

These CEA results show that once-weekly semaglutide is a cost-effective GLP-1 RA therapy for the treatment of T2D in patients inadequately controlled on metformin or basal insulin, addressing many current clinician, patient, and payer unmet needs in Sweden.

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Journal of medical economics, 2019;22(10):997-1005
DOI: 10.1080/13696998.2019.1614009