OBJECTIVES : The aim was to evaluate the cost of control for achieving composite treatment goals of blood glucose, weight and hypoglycaemia with liraglutide 1.2 mg once-daily versus other anti-diabetic therapies in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) .

METHODS : Cost of control means the cost per patient successfully treated by anti-diabetic therapies, which was calculated by plotting relative treatment costs against efficacy. In this study, efficacy was measured by the proportions of patients reaching a composite treatment goal of HbA_1c <7.0% without weight gain and without hypoglycaemia. The clinical data were based on ‘Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes (LEAD)’ clinical trial programme. Relevant comparators were glimepiride, rosiglitazone, insulin glargine and exenatide. The numbers needed to treat (NNTs) for patients achieving the composite endpoint at week 26 in each treatment group were calculated also. Treatment cost was captured from a Chinese healthcare perspective, which includes drug and needle cost. Drug dosage from LEAD project combined with price of drug and needle from averaged procurement of 2020 in China were used.

RESULTS : By calculation, NNTs for liraglutide 1.2mg (3.1) were lower compared to exenatide (4.0), insulin glargine (6.7), glimepiride (12.5) and rosiglitazone (16.7). In terms of the cost of control to achieve the composite endpoint, liraglutide 1.2mg costs less (¥16 405) compared to the other commonly used therapies. Cost with exenatide, insulin glargine, glimepiride, and rosiglitazone group was ¥18 732, ¥29 614, ¥31 253.9 and ¥50 523, consequently, amount spent on bringing per patient to composite endpoint was higher with 14%, 81%, 91% and 208% of corresponding groups compared to liraglutide 1.2 mg group.

CONCLUSIONS : The efficacy-to-cost ratios with liraglutide 1.2 mg were superior to glimepiride, insulin glargine, rosiglitazone and exenatide on successfully treating patients in a Chinese setting, which represent as a cost-saving approach for patients with T2D in China.