OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the short-term cost effectiveness of insulin degludec/insulin aspart(IDegAsp) versus insulin glargine(IGlar) U100 + insulin aspart(IAsp) for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes with inadequately controlled on basal insulin in China.

METHODS: Based on a published and validated short-term model developed in Microsoft Excel, the costs and effects of treatment with IDegAsp versus IGlar U100 + IAsp were calculated over 2-year period, from the Chinese healthcare perspective. The clinical data required for the model were obtained from a randomized, controlled phase III trial (NCT02906917), and adjusted to the average level of the Chinese population through literature data. China-specific drug costs were calculated based on national negotiation price and volume-based procurement price. Hypoglycemic costs and event-related disutility data were derived from published literature. All costs were adjusted to the price level of 2021 with Chinese Consumer Price Index. An annual discount rate of 5% was used for both costs and health outcomes. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to access the robustness of results.

RESULTS: Compared with the IGlar U100 + IAsp, treatment with IDegAsp was associated with an improvement of 0.0288 (1.4617 vs 1.4329) quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over a 2-year time horizon. Meanwhile, IDegAsp saved 5,454 (22,722 vs 28,176) CNY for total cost than IGlar U100+IAsp, which was primarily driven by lower rates of hypoglycemic events, less additional self-measured blood glucose (SMBG) test for hypoglycemic events, and fewer injections of insulin.

CONCLUSIONS: Compared with IGlar U100 + IAsp, IDegAsp is a dominant treatment option for people with T2DM with inadequate glycaemic control on basal insulin in China.