On 10 October 2022, the OIC-Secretary of Health (SOH) approved the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) recommendation for the government financing of both insulin glargine 10mL vial (100 IU/ml) and 3mL pre-filled pen (100 IU/ml) for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) through their inclusion in the Philippine National Formulary (PNF).
In developing its recommendation for insulin glargine, the HTAC considered the following:
- Comparable efficacy and acceptable safety profiles with Neutral Protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin
- Insulin glargine has comparable efficacy in terms of reduction of average plasma glucose concentration and improvement of quality of life for both T1DM and T2DM, and reduction of diabetes-related complications for T2DM. In addition, the said drug has shown a significantly lower risk of severe and nocturnal hypoglycemia.
- Affordability and viability of insulin glargine
- The estimated total cost of treatment for T1DM patients ranges from Php 1.35 billion for insulin glargine biosimilar vial, and up to Php 3.23 billion for insulin glargine biosimilar pen.
- The estimated total cost of treatment for T2DM patients ranges from Php 1.51 B for insulin glargine biosimilar vial and up to Php 3.45 billion for insulin glargine biosimilar pen.
- Its budget impact is high compared to NPH, but the availability of numerous biosimilars in the market will enable the reduction of the cost of the drug through competitive bidding.
- Cost-effectiveness
- Based on cost-effectiveness studies included in the WHO review, the administration of insulin glargine is cost-effective. However, this cannot be determined in the Philippine setting due to the absence of evidence from lower middle-income countries.
Details of the evidence considered and findings may be found in these links:
Evidence Summary – Evidence Summary
Department Circular – https://bit.ly/HTAC_DC2022-0537
HTAC Recommendation preview:
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