Abstract
BACKGROUND: With the available evidence of early combined oral drug therapies being more effective in lowering blood glucose levels than maximal doses of a single drug, many clinicians are taking the aggressive approach of adding a sulfonylurea or a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor to metformin as the initial therapy in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Pharmacotherapy for a chronic disease like diabetes has substantial economic implications for patients especially in a developing country like India. So it is important to scientifically evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these commonly practiced combination therapies in the management of T2DM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective observational randomized comparative study conducted over 8 weeks on patients of T2DM who were prescribed either of the two therapies of metformin (500 mg) plus glimepiride (1 mg) or metformin (500 mg) plus teneligliptin (20 mg). Cost-effectiveness analysis was done by calculating the expense incurred on 0.1% reduction in HbA1 c and 1 mg/dl reduction in fasting plasma glucose (FPG)/post-prandial plasma glucose (PPG) levels after 8 weeks and compared for both the groups. The same was also evaluated for differences in BMI levels. RESULTS: The cost-effectiveness for per unit reduction in HbA1c and FPG was significant in metformin plus glimepiride group as compared to the metformin plus teneligliptin group though it was comparable for both the groups for per unit PPG reduction. There was no significant change in BMI levels between the groups. CONCLUSION: Compared to metformin plus teneligliptin, metformin plus glimepiride is a significantly cost-effective therapy when used as an initial combination therapy in patients of T2DM in lowering HbA1c and FPG.