Diabetes, obesity & metabolismOct 27, 2018

Long-term cost-effectiveness of weekly semaglutide compared to dulaglutide for treating type 2 diabetes in the UK

GLP-1 Therapies Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 6, 2026

Abstract

Once-weekly semaglutide 1 mg is associated with an improvement of 0.10 quality-adjusted life years compared to dulaglutide 1.5 mg.

Once-weekly semaglutide 0.5 mg is associated with an improvement of 0.04 quality-adjusted life years compared to dulaglutide 1.5 mg.
Both doses of semaglutide resulted in lifetime cost savings of GBP 35 for 0.5 mg and GBP 106 for 1 mg due to fewer diabetes-related complications.
Semaglutide is linked to better glycaemic control, which may lead to improved clinical outcomes.
Both doses of once-weekly semaglutide were found to be dominant over dulaglutide by improving outcomes while reducing costs.

Simplified

AIMS: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are appealing as glucose-lowering therapy for individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as they also reduce body weight and are associated with low rates of hypoglycaemia. This analysis assessed the long-term cost-effectiveness of semaglutide 0.5 and 1 mg vs dulaglutide 1.5 mg (two once-weekly GLP-1 receptor agonists) from a UK healthcare payer perspective, based on the head-to-head SUSTAIN 7 trial, to inform healthcare decision making.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Long-term outcomes were projected using the IQVIA CORE Diabetes Model (version 9.0). Baseline cohort characteristics, changes in physiological parameters and adverse event rates were derived from the 40-week SUSTAIN 7 trial. Costs to a healthcare payer were assessed, and these captured pharmacy costs and costs of complications. Utilities were taken from published sources.

RESULTS: Once-weekly semaglutide 0.5 and 1 mg were associated with improvements in quality-adjusted life expectancy of 0.04 and 0.10 quality-adjusted life years, respectively, compared with dulaglutide 1.5 mg. Clinical benefits were achieved at reduced costs, with lifetime cost savings of GBP 35 with once-weekly semaglutide 0.5 mg and GBP 106 with the once-weekly semaglutide 1 mg, resulting from fewer diabetes-related complications due to better glycaemic control. Therefore, both doses of once-weekly semaglutide were considered dominant vs dulaglutide 1.5 mg (improving outcomes and reducing costs).

CONCLUSIONS: Compared with treatment with dulaglutide, once-weekly semaglutide represents a cost-effective option for treating individuals in the UK with T2DM who are not achieving glycaemic control with metformin, projected to both improve clinical outcomes and reduce costs.

Key numbers

0.10 QALYs

Increase in Quality-Adjusted Life Expectancy

Compared to dulaglutide 1.5 mg

GBP 106

Lifetime Cost Savings

With once-weekly semaglutide 1 mg vs dulaglutide 1.5 mg

0.04 QALYs

Increase in Quality-Adjusted Life Expectancy

Compared to dulaglutide 1.5 mg

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Long-term cost-effectiveness of weekly semaglutide compared to dulaglutide for treating type 2 diabetes in the UK

Abstract

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