COMPARISONS OF MEDICAL AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG EXPENDITURES BETWEEN AMERICANS WHO USED INSULIN GLARGINE LANTUS AND ITS INTERCHANGEABLE BIOSIMILAR SEMGLEE
Author(s)
Lotanna Ezeja, BPharm, Jingjing Qian, PhD;
Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
OBJECTIVES: Semglee (insulin glargine-yfgn) was approved as an interchangeable biosimilar to the reference product Lantus (insulin glargine) on July 28, 2021 in the U.S. This study compared annual medical and prescription drug expenditures between individuals who used Lantus and Semglee in a nationally representative sample.
METHODS: This cross-sectional retrospective study used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2021-2023) to identify individuals with prescription fills for either Lantus or Semglee. The proportions of individual's age, sex, race/ethnicity, geographic region, education, income, and insurance status were compared between Lantus and Semglee users using Rao-Scott Chi-square test. Annual total and out-of-pocket (OOP) medical and prescription drug expenditures (limited to Lantus/Semglee) were adjusted to 2023 U.S. dollars using the Personal Health Care and Consumer Price Indices and compared between the two user groups (least squares means). All analyses were weighted, and statistical significance was set at P<0.05.
RESULTS: There were 735 Lantus (weighted n=2,495,364) and 38 Semglee (weighted n=177,531) users in the sample. Lantus users had lower income levels than Semglee users (P=0.006). Most Semglee users had private insurance (70.7% vs. 41.3% for Lantus users). Lantus users had a higher mean annual total medical expenditure ($26,943 vs. $24,610) but lower OOP ($1,732 vs. $3,701) than Semglee users (P<0.001). Lantus users had a higher mean annual total prescription drug expenditure ($2,835 vs. $1,475) and OOP ($204 vs. $121) than Semglee users (P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: As a biosimilar, Semglee led to lower total and OOP prescription drug expenditures for both healthcare system and consumers compared to Lantus, without increasing total medical expenditures. The higher OOP medical expenditures for Semglee users might be due to private insurance plan cost-sharing benefit design. Findings of this study call for real-world evidence research to compare effectiveness and safety between Lantus and its biosimilars for further adoption of biosimilars.
METHODS: This cross-sectional retrospective study used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2021-2023) to identify individuals with prescription fills for either Lantus or Semglee. The proportions of individual's age, sex, race/ethnicity, geographic region, education, income, and insurance status were compared between Lantus and Semglee users using Rao-Scott Chi-square test. Annual total and out-of-pocket (OOP) medical and prescription drug expenditures (limited to Lantus/Semglee) were adjusted to 2023 U.S. dollars using the Personal Health Care and Consumer Price Indices and compared between the two user groups (least squares means). All analyses were weighted, and statistical significance was set at P<0.05.
RESULTS: There were 735 Lantus (weighted n=2,495,364) and 38 Semglee (weighted n=177,531) users in the sample. Lantus users had lower income levels than Semglee users (P=0.006). Most Semglee users had private insurance (70.7% vs. 41.3% for Lantus users). Lantus users had a higher mean annual total medical expenditure ($26,943 vs. $24,610) but lower OOP ($1,732 vs. $3,701) than Semglee users (P<0.001). Lantus users had a higher mean annual total prescription drug expenditure ($2,835 vs. $1,475) and OOP ($204 vs. $121) than Semglee users (P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: As a biosimilar, Semglee led to lower total and OOP prescription drug expenditures for both healthcare system and consumers compared to Lantus, without increasing total medical expenditures. The higher OOP medical expenditures for Semglee users might be due to private insurance plan cost-sharing benefit design. Findings of this study call for real-world evidence research to compare effectiveness and safety between Lantus and its biosimilars for further adoption of biosimilars.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-05, ISPOR 2026, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue S6
Code
EE224
Topic
Economic Evaluation
Topic Subcategory
Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies
Disease
SDC: Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders (including obesity)