Page 108 - GHES-2-4

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Short-term cost-effectiveness of oral

semaglutide versus empagliflozin, sitagliptin,
and liraglutide in the treatment of Type 2

diabetes in Greece

1
Panagiotis Papantoniou * and Anastasia Papageorgiou 2
1 Department of Public Health Policy, Faculty of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens,
Greece
2 Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens,
Greece

Abstract
Diabetes is a significant global health concern, affecting more than 540 million
people worldwide and imposing a substantial financial burden on health systems
and societies. This study evaluates the cost per patient of achieving treatment
targets with oral semaglutide compared to empagliflozin, sitagliptin, and liraglutide
in patients with Type 2 diabetes in Greece. The analysis focuses on seven outcomes,
Academic editor: including hemoglobin A1C levels, avoidance of hypoglycemia, and weight loss, with
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE costs calculated in 2024 EUR, excluding patient copayments. The annual treatment
costs were EUR 1,210.04 for oral semaglutide, EUR 528.04 for empagliflozin, EUR
*Corresponding author:
Panagiotis Papantoniou 260.51 for sitagliptin, and EUR 1,542.87 for liraglutide. Although a higher proportion
(ppapantoniou@uniwa.gr) of patients achieved treatment goals with oral semaglutide, it was associated
Citation: Papantoniou, P. & with a higher cost of control across most outcomes compared to empagliflozin
Papageorgiou, A. (2024). (mean probabilistic sensitivity analysis [PSA] difference: EUR 839.45) and sitagliptin
Short-term cost-effectiveness of oral (mean PSA difference: EUR 1,041.50). In contrast, oral semaglutide demonstrated
semaglutide versus empagliflozin,
sitagliptin, and liraglutide in the a consistently lower cost of control compared to liraglutide across all treatment
treatment of Type 2 diabetes targets (mean PSA difference: EUR −3,779.23). This analysis confirms that the cost of
in Greece. Global Health Econ control of oral semaglutide varies significantly depending on the treatment target,
Sustain, 2(4):3032.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3032 suggesting that, without changes in its list or net price, it may not be the most cost-
effective option compared to empagliflozin and sitagliptin in Greece.
Received: February 27, 2024
Accepted: June 13, 2024
Keywords: Cost of control; Short-term cost-effectiveness; Type-2 diabetes; Glucagon-like
Published Online: October 15, 2024 peptide-1 receptor agonists; Greece
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, 1. Introduction
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is Diabetes is a complex and multifactorial metabolic syndrome characterized by elevated
properly cited. blood glucose levels, representing a global pandemic that affects more than 540 million
Publisher’s Note: AccScience people (10.5%) worldwide (International Diabetes Federation [IDF], 2021). This
Publishing remains neutral with figure is predicted to exceed 643 million in 2030 (IDF, 2021). Type 2 diabetes accounts
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional for 90 – 95% of all diabetes cases and is driven by a combination of socioeconomic,
affiliations. environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors. Although Type 2 diabetes primarily

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3032