OBJECTIVES: An estimate of 72.94 million population in India is suffering from Diabetes mellitus till 2017 according to International Diabetes Federation data. The prevalence of diabetes has now reached to the alarming status. Most frequently prescribed oral hypoglycemic agents in India are Metformin, Glimepiride, Glipizide, Pioglitazone, Voglibose. Diabetic patient usually requires lifelong therapy. Thus analysis of cost of convenient drug products is imperative to appraise economic burden on society and health care system. The aim of this study was to analyze annual cost of diabetic therapy with different marketed brands & their comparison with drugs being distributed under government of India’s scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojna’ (PMBJP).

METHODS: The means of maximum retail price of most extensively prescribed tablet formulation brands of five drugs was analyzed, annual cost of treatment was calculated & compared with drugs being sold under PMBJP scheme using one sample t test. P value<0.05 was considered significant. Predictive cost saving projection in Indian diabetic population was appraised by cost difference.

RESULTS: Mean annual therapy cost ±SEM as monotherapy with studied brands of Metformin (500 mg, 72 brands), Glimepiride (4 mg, 30 brands), Glipizide (5 mg, 21 brands), Pioglitazone (30 mg, 64 brands), Voglibose (0.2 mg, 41 brands) was USD 25.48±9.53, 72.89±5.53, 3.67±0.310, 23.64±1.15, 83.85±3.74 respectively while it was USD 5.26, 6.13, 1.27, 5.46, 15.33 respectively with PMBJP. The annual therapy cost with all drug products distributed under PMBJP scheme is significantly less (P<0.05) as compared to other marketed frequently prescribed brands of each studied drug.

CONCLUSIONS: If the studied oral hypoglycemic agents are prescribed and judiciously made available to patients under government scheme PMBJP, about USD million 1475 (with metformin) or 4869 (with glimepiride) or 174 (with glipizide) or 1326 (with pioglitazone) or 4998 (with voglibose) in Indian economy may be saved.