Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs in Individuals Who Discontinue Liraglutide and Who Switch from Liraglutide to Once-Weekly Injectable Semaglutide.

INTRODUCTION: This study evaluated healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs in the USA for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who discontinued the injectable glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) once-daily liraglutide for T2D (with no other glucose-lowering agent added) or switched from liraglutide to the GLP-1 RA once-weekly semaglutide for T2D. METHODS: In this observational cohort study, we utilized claims data (Merative MarketScan [Merative, Ann Arbor, MI, USA] Commercial and Medicare Database; January 1, 2017-March 31, 2021) to compare HCRU and costs between individuals who discontinued liraglutide ("discontinuers") and those who switched from liraglutide to semaglutide ("switchers"). Patients were indexed between January 1, 2018 and March 31, 2020. Outcomes were compared between discontinuers and switchers over the 360-day post-index period using stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting. RESULTS: Characteristics of the two cohorts were balanced after weighting. Switchers had significantly lower HCRU in inpatient and emergency department (ED) settings compared with discontinuers. Mean [standard deviation] total medical costs were significantly lower for switchers ($8513 [$18,931]) than for discontinuers ($13,585 [$52,011], p < 0.001), driven by reduced inpatient costs (2.6 times lower) and ED costs (1.6 times lower). CONCLUSION: This analysis demonstrates that the cohort of people switching from liraglutide to semaglutide was associated with significantly lower HCRU and costs when compared with people discontinuing liraglutide only. These findings imply that switching to semaglutide could be a good option for people with T2D for whom liraglutide is no longer optimal.