Abstract

Pharmacoeconomic Evaluation, Cost Minimization Analysis of Anti-Diabetic Therapy in Gujarat

Author(s):Shah Jainam V., Patni Kalyani N. and Deshpande Shrikalp S.

Economic burden of DM was approximated $ 132 billion in 2002. 55 patients with DM were recruited. Their clinical information was analyzed for most commonly and most costly prescribed drug molecule. Three brands of both drugs were selected and laboratory analysis was done for all the selected brands to compare the bioequivalence. For the rest of drugs prescribed, the prices were compared using published resources. Metformin 500 mg was the most commonly prescribed drug. Sitagliptin 50 mg was the costliest drug prescribed. Glycomet, Glyciphage and Forson were the brands of Metformin, Januvia and Zeta were the brands of Sitagliptin, selected for lab analysis. The drug content for metformin in Glycomet (100%), Glyciphage (99.24%) and Forson (98.95%) for Sitagliptin, Januvia (100%) and Zeta (102.43%) was nearly same. The price variation of Metformin was found to be 94.83% and that of Sitagliptin was found to be 174.5%. Since it is evident that same drug molecule varying in costs has same drug strength content they would produce similar clinical outcomes. This concludes that cheaper drugs can be prescribed to patients reducing the health-economic burden on diabetic patients.

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