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Diabetes Drug Costs Soar 70%

Posted: Friday, May 25, 2007

The introduction of new treatment options and a growing number of diabetes patients will drive costs upward.

According to a report released last Thursday by Medco Health Solutions Inc, a growing diabetes epidemic and more aggressive treatment with combination drug therapies could result in a rise of nearly 70% in drug spending on the disease through 2009,

Medco's 2007 Drug Trend Report found diabetes treatments trailing only cholesterol medications in total prescription drug spending growth in 2006.

The director of medical policy for Medco stated that, "There are going to be a lot more drugs coming out and more and more people with type 2 diabetes will catapult diabetes to the number one class in driving year over year spending growth." The analysis projects that, by 2009, spending on medicines to treat diabetes could soar by 60% to 68% from 2006 levels.

Spending on diabetes treatments increased 14.5% from 2005 to 2006 and the use of diabetes drugs increased 5.1%. The U.S. sales of diabetes drugs reached $9.88 billion in 2005, according to data from IMS Health Inc..

An aging population and the alarming rise in obesity -- a leading cause of diabetes -- are expected to push spending growth rates on diabetes drugs up 16% to 20% annually.

Use is expected to increase by 8% to 10% each year, with patients more frequently using new drug combinations to reach target blood sugar levels, the Medco analysis of likely future prescription drug spending and utilization found.

A wave of new diabetes treatments, such as Merck & Co.'s, Januvia, and Byetta from Eli Lilly and Co. and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., and others expected to hit the market from the likes of Novartis AG and Novo Nordisk A/S, will help push up treatment costs, the report said.

Some newer drugs that act on new targets are increasingly being prescribed as first-line therapy and are frequently being used in combination with other drugs, driving up costs this year and going forward, the report said.

Use of lower cost generic drugs could mitigate pricing pressures, said Medco, a pharmacy benefits manager that negotiates prescription drug costs for companies and other large clients.

But while new medicines and combination therapies can be expensive, the cost of treating complications from untreated diabetes would create a much larger burden on government and private health plans and patient pocketbooks.

Source: Diabetes In Control