Author(s)

Gaoyu Xie¹, Suning Zhao²

¹School of Mathematics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
²Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Objectives: The cost-utility analysis of Liraglutide is aimed at evaluating whether Liraglutide is cost-effective or not after Chinese reformation on medical insurance. The analysis is based on the results of clinical trial conducted in Asia. Methods: We applied a Markov model to estimate the quality-adjusted life years, medical cost and incidence of diabetes-related complications for patients receiving the Liraglutide as an add-on to the metformin treatment. Baseline characteristics were taken from a China’s study while the treatment effect is from an Asian study. The related medical cost and utility score were obtained from a local study in China. Having set 30 years’ simulations, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated comparing with glimepiride treatment. The ratio would be compared with the willingness to pay for a quality-adjusted-life-year (QALY) which is three times of the GDP per capita in Beijing. Sensitivity analysis was also performed. Result: During a period of 30 years, the base-case analysis which takes discount rate at 3% shows that Liraglutide 1.8 mg results in an average incremental cost of CNY 82,671.49, an improvement in 0.12 QALYs and a reduction of incidence of diabetes-related complications comparing to glimepiride. The associated incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is CNY 688,929.08. Conclusion: Long-term project shows that taking Liraglutide as an add-on to the metformin treatment will lead to increasing quality-adjusted life years and reduction of incidence of diabetes-related complications. When the price of Liraglutide is reduced by 43 percent in China’s yuan, Liraglutide will be cost-effective in China from the healthcare system perspective taking three times of GDP per capita as our WTP threshold.

Liraglutide, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Markov Model, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Chinese Reformation on Medical Insurance

Xie, G. and Zhao, S. (2018) Cost-Utility Analysis of Liraglutide in Type 2 Diabetes Patients in China after Chinese Reformation of Medical Care System. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 6, 13-25. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2018.612002.