Cost-effectiveness of biphasic insulin aspart versus insulin glargine in patients with type 2 diabetes in China

Choice across 10 pharmacologic combination strategies for type 2 diabetes: a cost-effectiveness analysis

BACKGROUND

Clinical guidelines recommend a stepped-escalation treatment strategy for type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Across multiple treatment strategies varying in efficacy and costs, no clinical or economic studies directly compared them. This study aims to estimate and compare the cost-effectiveness of 10 commonly used pharmacologic combination strategies for T2DM.

METHODS

Based on Chinese guideline and practice, 10 three-stepwise add-on strategies were identified, which start with metformin, then switch to metformin plus one oral drug (i.e., sulfonylurea, thiazolidinedione, α-glucosidase inhibitor, glinide, or DPP-4 inhibitor) as second line, and finally switch to metformin plus one injection (i.e., insulin or GLP-1 receptor agonist) as third line. A cohort of 10,000 Chinese patients with newly diagnosed T2DM was established. From a healthcare system perspective, the Cardiff model was used to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the strategies, with clinical data sourced from a systematic review and indirect treatment comparison of 324 trials, costs from claims data of 1164 T2DM patients, and utilities from an EQ-5D study. Outcome measures include costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), and net monetary benefits (NMBs).

RESULTS

Over 40-year simulation, the costs accumulated for a patient ranged from $7661 with strategy 1 to $14,273 with strategy 10, while the QALY gains ranged from 13.965 with strategy 1 to 14.117 with strategy 8. Strategy 7 was dominant over seven strategies (strategies 2~6, 9~10) with higher QALYs but lower costs. Additionally, at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $30,787/QALY (i.e., 3 times GDP/capita for China), strategy 7 was cost-effective compared with strategy 1 (ICER of strategy 7 vs. 1, $3371/QALY) and strategy 8 (ICER of strategy 8 vs. 7, $132,790/QALY). Ranking the strategies by ICERs and NMBs, strategy 7 provided the best value for money when compared to all other strategies, followed by strategies 5, 9, 8, 1, 3, 6, 10, 2, and 4. Scenario analyses showed that patients insist on pharmacologic treatments increased their QALYs (0.456~0.653) at an acceptable range of cost increase (ICERs, $1450/QALY~$12,360/QALY) or even at cost saving compared with those not receive treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence-based references for diabetes management. Our findings can be used to design the essential drug formulary, infer clinical practice, and help the decision-maker design reimbursement policy.

A Real-World Anti-Diabetes Medication Cost Comparison Between Premixed Insulin Analogs and Long-Acting Insulin Analogs in Chinese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Retrospective Database Analysis

INTRODUCTION

To assess and compare per-day anti-diabetic medication costs for Chinese type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) insulin-naïve patients between those who initiated premixed insulin analogs ("premixed group") and those who initiated long-acting insulin analogs ("long-acting group").

METHODS

Data were obtained from an electronic medical record database between 2010.01.01 and 2015.06.30 covering medical encounter records from all general hospitals in a district from Shanghai, China. Insulin-naïve T2DM patients who were aged ≥ 18 years, treated with an oral anti-diabetic drug (OAD) only during the baseline period (3 months prior to insulin initiation), and initiated premixed or long-acting insulin analogs were included. Patients were followed until index insulin discontinuation or 12 months after initiation, whichever came first. The t test and generalized linear models adjusting for propensity score (PS) (including baseline demographics, number of OAD classes, comorbidities, costs, and healthcare resource utilization) were used to examine the differences between the two insulin groups.

RESULTS

A total of 570 and 185 patients were identified for the premixed and long-acting groups, with mean (SD) ages of 63.0 (12.8) and 61.1 (11.9) (P = 0.08) and male proportions of 47.4% and 51.4% (P = 0.35), respectively. During the baseline period, 19.3% of the premixed users had T2DM-related hospitalizations, while the rate was 12.4% in the long-acting group (P = 0.03). The mean number of T2DM-related outpatient visits was 0.98 and 1.23 for the premixed and long-acting groups, respectively (P = 0.07). During the follow-up period, the per-day insulin dose averaged 31.7 and 15.3 international units (IU) for the premixed and long-acting groups, respectively. Compared with the patients on premixed insulin, the mean per-day cost for patients on long-acting insulin was 37.3% higher [15.3 vs 11.2 Chinese yuan (RMB); mean difference (MD) (95% CI): 4.2 (3.2, 5.1)] for the overall anti-diabetes medication, 81.3% higher [3.3 vs 1.8 RMB; MD (95% CI): 1.5 (0.8, 2.2)] for OAD, and 28.6% higher [12.0 vs 9.3 RMB; MD (95% CI): 2.7 (2.1, 3.3)] for insulin. The results were consistent after adjusting for the PS.

CONCLUSION

Among Chinese T2DM insulin-naïve patients, those who initiated premixed insulin had a lower per-day antidiabetic medication cost than those who initiated long-acting insulin.

FUNDING

Lilly Suzhou Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, China.

Health-related quality of life and health preference of Chinese patients with diabetes mellitus managed in primary care and secondary care setting: decrements associated with individual complication and number of complications

Background

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and health preference of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are essential in health economic evaluations but data on Chinese population is rare. This study aims to evaluate HRQoL and health preference of diabetic patients with different diabetic complications in Chinese population.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1275 patients with DM, including 518 subjects with various DM-related complications. HRQoL and health preference were estimated using SF-12 and SF-6D questionnaires, respectively. Disease status of DM and complications were identified from documented clinical diagnosis. Multivariable regression was used to investigate the effects of specific complications on HRQoL and health preference, adjusting for socio-demographic and clinical parameters.

Results

The presence of any diabetic complication was associated with lower physical component summary (−3.81 points, P < 0.01), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) showed greatest reduction (−7.05 points, P < 0.01). Mental component summary and mental health (MH) scores were not decreased in any of the diabetic complications. The health preference score for diabetic subjects without complications was 0.882 (95% CI, 0.778 to 0.989). The reductions of health preference score were significant for stroke (−0.042, 95% CI -0.072 to −0.012), ESRD (−0.055, 95% CI -0.093 to −0.017), and sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) (−0.043, 95% CI -0.075 to −0.010), while heart disease had an insignificant reduction (−0.017, 95% CI -0.042 to 0.008).

Conclusions

The presence of any of the four major diabetic complications (heart disease, stroke, ESRD and STDR) was associated with lower HRQoL and health preference scores. Findings of this study facilitated the cost-effectiveness studies of alternative management strategies for prevention of diabetic complications in Chinese population.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12955-017-0699-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

How Consistent is the Relationship between Improved Glucose Control and Modelled Health Outcomes for People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus? a Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

There are an increasing number of studies using simulation models to conduct cost-effectiveness analyses for type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the relationship between improvements in glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA_1c) and simulated health outcomes in type 2 diabetes cost-effectiveness studies.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted on MEDLINE and EMBASE to collect cost-effectiveness studies using type 2 diabetes simulation models that reported modelled health outcomes of blood glucose-related interventions in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) or life expectancy (LE). The data extracted included information used to characterise the study cohort, the intervention's treatment effects on risk factors and model outcomes. Linear regressions were used to test the relationship between the difference in HbA_1c (∆HbA_1c) and incremental QALYs (∆QALYs) or LE (∆LE) of intervention and control groups. The ratio between the ∆QALYs and ∆LE was calculated and a scatterplot between the ratio and ∆HbA_1c was used to explore the relationship between these two.

RESULTS

Seventy-six studies were included in this research, contributing to 124 pair of comparators. The pooled regressions indicated that the marginal effect of a 1% HbA_1c decrease in intervention resulted in an increase in life-time QALYs and LE of 0.371 (95% confidence interval 0.286-0.456) and 0.642 (95% CI 0.494-0.790), respectively. No evidence of heterogeneity between models was found. An inverse exponential relationship was found and fitted between the ratio (∆QALY/∆LE) and ∆HbA_1c.

CONCLUSION

There is a consistent relationship between ∆HbA_1c and ∆QALYs or ∆LE in cost-effectiveness analyses using type 2 diabetes simulation models. This relationship can be used as a diagnostic tool for decision makers.

Systematic Review of the Cost Effectiveness of Insulin Analogues in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND

Insulin analogues have a pharmacokinetic advantage over human insulin and are increasingly used to treat diabetes mellitus. A summary of their cost effectiveness versus other available treatments was required.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to systematically review the published cost-effectiveness studies of insulin analogues for the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

METHODS

We searched major databases and health technology assessment agency reports for economic evaluation studies published up until 30 September 2015. Two reviewers performed data extraction and assessed the quality of the data using the CHEERS (Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards) guidelines.

RESULTS

Seven of the included studies assessed short-acting insulin analogues, 12 assessed biphasic insulin analogues, 30 assessed long-acting insulin analogues and one assessed a combination of short- and long-acting insulin analogues. Only 17 studies involved patients with T1DM, all were modelling studies and 12 were conducted in Canada. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for short-acting insulin analogues ranged from dominant to $US435,913 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained, the ICERs for biphasic insulin analogues ranged from dominant to $US57,636 per QALY gained and the ICERs for long-acting insulin analogues ranged from dominant to $US599,863 per QALY gained. A total of 15 studies met all the CHEERS guidelines reporting quality criteria. Only 26 % of the studies assessed heterogeneity in their analyses.

CONCLUSION

Current evidence indicates that insulin analogues are cost effective for T1DM; however, evidence for their use in T2DM is not convincing. Additional evidence regarding compliance and efficacy is required to support the broader use of long-acting and biphasic insulin analogues in T2DM. The value of insulin analogues depends strongly on reductions in hypoglycaemia event rates and its efficacy in lowering glycated haemoglobin (HbA_1c).

Quality of pharmacoeconomic research in China: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

The number of pharmacoeconomic publications in the literature from China has risen rapidly, but the quality of pharmacoeconomic publications from China has not been analyzed.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to identify all recent pharmacoeconomic publications from China, to critically appraise the reporting quality, and to summarize the results.

METHODS

Four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, and EmBase) were searched for original articles published up to December 31, 2014. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards statement including 24 items was used to assess the quality of reporting of these articles.

RESULTS

Of 1046 articles identified, 32 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. They were published in 23 different journals. Quality of reporting varied between studies, with an average score of 18.7 (SD = 4.33) out of 24 (range 9-23.5). There was an increasing trend of pharmacoeconomic publications and reporting quality over years from 2003 to 2014. According to the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards, the reporting quality for the items including "title," "comparators of method," and "measurement of effectiveness" are quite low, with less than 50% of studies fully satisfying these reporting standards. In contrast, reporting was good for the items including "introduction," "study perspective," "choice of health outcomes," "study parameters," "characterizing heterogeneity," and "discussion," with more than 75% of the articles satisfying these reporting criteria. The remaining items fell in between these 2 extremes, with 50% to 75% of studies satisfying these criteria.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests the need for improvement in a number of reporting criteria. But the criteria for which reporting quality was low seem to be limitations that would be straightforward to correct in future studies.

Economic Burden in Chinese Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Using Electronic Insurance Claims Data

BACKGROUND

There is a paucity of studies that focus on the economic burden in daily care in China using electronic health data. The aim of this study is to describe the development of the economic burden of diabetic patients in a sample city in China from 2009 to 2011 using electronic data of patients' claims records.

METHODS

This study is a retrospective, longitudinal study in an open cohort of Chinese patients with diabetes. The patient population consisted of people living in a provincial capital city in east China, covered by the provincial urban employee basic medical insurance (UEBMI). We included any patient who had at least one explicit diabetes diagnosis or received blood glucose lowering medication in at least one registered outpatient visit or hospitalization during a calendar year in the years 2009-2011. Cross-sectional descriptions of different types of costs, prevalence of diabetic complications and related diseases, medication use were performed for each year separately and differences between three years were compared using a chi-square test or the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis H test.

RESULTS

Our results showed an increasing trend in total medical cost (from 2,383 to 2,780 USD, p = 0.032) and diabetes related cost (from 1,655 to 1,857 USD) for those diabetic patients during the study period. The diabetes related economic burden was significantly related to the prevalence of complications and related diseases (p<0.001). The overall medication cost during diabetes related visits also increased (from 1,335 to 1,383 USD, p = 0.021). But the use pattern and cost of diabetes-related medication did not show significant changes during the study period.

CONCLUSION

The economic burden of diabetes increased significantly in urban China. It is important to improve the prevention and treatment of diabetes to contribute to the sustainability of the Chinese health-care system.

Efficacy and safety of biphasic insulin aspart and biphasic insulin lispro mix in patients with type 2 diabetes: A review of the literature

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) represents an escalating burden worldwide, particularly in China and India. Compared with Caucasians, Asian people with diabetes have lower body mass index, increased visceral adiposity, and postprandial glucose (PPG)/insulin resistance. Since postprandial hyperglycemia contributes significantly to total glycemic burden and is associated with heightened cardiovascular risk, targeting PPG early in T2D is paramount. Premixed insulin regimens are widely used in Asia due to their convenience and effectiveness. Data from randomized controlled trials and observational studies comparing efficacy and safety of biphasic insulin aspart 30 (BIAsp 30) with biphasic insulin lispro mix (LM 25/50) and versus other insulin therapies or oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) in T2D demonstrated that BIAsp 30 and LM 25/50 were associated with similar or greater improvements in glycemic control versus comparator regimens, such as basal-bolus insulin, in insulin-naÏve, and prior insulin users. Studies directly comparing BIAsp 30 and LM 25 provided conflicting glycemic control results. Safety data generally showed increased hypoglycemia and weight gain with premixed insulins versus basal-bolus insulin or OADs. However, large observational trials documented improvements in glycated hemoglobin, PPG, and hypoglycemia with BIAsp 30 in multi-ethnic patient populations. In summary, this literature review demonstrates that premixed insulin regimens are an appropriate and effective treatment choice in T2D.

Validation of the IMS CORE Diabetes Model

BACKGROUND

The IMS CORE Diabetes Model (CDM) is a widely published and validated simulation model applied in both type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) analyses. Validation to external studies is an important part of demonstrating model credibility.

OBJECTIVE

Because the CDM is widely used to estimate long-term clinical outcomes in diabetes patients, the objective of this analysis was to validate the CDM to contemporary outcomes studies, including those with long-term follow-up periods.

METHODS

A total of 112 validation simulations were performed, stratified by study follow-up duration. For long-term results (≥15-year follow-up), simulation cohorts representing baseline Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) cohorts were generated and intensive and conventional treatment arms were defined in the CDM. Predicted versus observed macrovascular and microvascular complications and all-cause mortality were assessed using the coefficient of determination (R(2)) goodness-of-fit measure.

RESULTS

Across all validation studies, the CDM simulations produced an R(2) statistic of 0.90. For validation studies with a follow-up duration of less than 15 years, R(2) values of 0.90 and 0.88 were achieved for T1DM and T2DM respectively. In T1DM, validating against 30-year outcomes data (DCCT) resulted in an R(2) of 0.72. In T2DM, validating against 20-year outcomes data (UKPDS) resulted in an R(2) of 0.92.

CONCLUSIONS

This analysis supports the CDM as a credible tool for predicting the absolute number of clinical events in DCCT- and UKPDS-like populations. With increasing incidence of diabetes worldwide, the CDM is particularly important for health care decision makers, for whom the robust evaluation of health care policies is essential.

COST-UTILITY ANALYSIS OF LIRAGLUTIDE VERSUS GLIMEPIRIDE AS ADD-ON TO METFORMIN IN TYPE 2 DIABETES PATIENTS IN CHINA

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term cost-utility of liraglutide versus glimepiride as add-on therapy to metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), based on the results of clinical trial conducted in Asian population.

Methods: The validated UKPDS Outcomes Model was used to project life expectancy, quality adjusted life-years (QALYs), incidence of diabetes-related complication and cost of complications in patients receiving those regimens. Baseline cohort characteristics and treatment effects were derived from an Asian study. China-specific complication costs and utility score were taken from local studies. Patients’ outcomes were modeled for 30 years and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated for liraglutide compared with glimepiride from the healthcare system perspective. Both future costs and clinical benefits were discounted at 3 percent. Sensitivity analyses were performed.

Results: Over a period of 30 years, compared with glimepiride, liraglutide 1.8 mg was associated with improvements in life expectancy (0.1 year) and quality adjusted life-year (0.168 QALY), and a reduced incidence of diabetes-related complications leading to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio per QALY gained versus glimepiride of CNY 25,6871 (DEC 2010, 1 USD = 6.6227 CNY).

Conclusions: Long-term projections indicated that liraglutide was associated with increased life expectancy, QALYs, and reduced complication incidences comparing with glimepiride. When the UK cost of liraglutide was discounted by 38 percent, liraglutide would be a cost-effective option in China from the healthcare system perspective using the 3X GDP/capita per QALY as the WTP threshold.

Ten years of experience with biphasic insulin aspart 30: from drug development to the latest clinical findings

Biphasic insulin aspart 30 (BIAsp 30) includes 30% soluble rapid-acting insulin aspart (IAsp) along with an intermediate-acting 70% protaminated IAsp that provides coverage of prandial and basal insulin in a single injection. As BIAsp 30 has been available internationally for 10 years, this review provides a comprehensive overview of the discovery of BIAsp 30, its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile, safety and efficacy outcomes from the clinical trial programme, 'real-life' clinical insights provided by observational study data, and cost effectiveness and quality-of-life information. These studies have demonstrated that BIAsp 30 once or twice daily is an appropriate option for insulin initiation. BIAsp 30 also provides a switch option in patients on biphasic human insulin (BHI). Switching from BHI to BIAsp 30 is associated with improved postprandial glucose (PPG) and reduced nocturnal and major hypoglycaemia, although daytime hypoglycaemia is higher with BIAsp 30. Intensification of BIAsp 30 can be achieved by increasing the number of daily doses up to three times daily with meals. Therefore, BIAsp 30 provides an intensification option for individuals who are not achieving control with basal insulin and would prefer the simplicity of a single biphasic insulin instead of progressing to a basal-bolus approach. BIAsp 30 has a simple dose-titration algorithm, which enables patients to effectively self-titrate their insulin dose. Cost-effectiveness analyses have demonstrated that BIAsp 30 is cost effective or dominant compared with BHI 30 or insulin glargine in a number of healthcare settings. In conclusion, BIAsp 30 offers a simple and flexible option for insulin initiation and intensification that provides coverage of both fasting and prandial glucose.