Research
Adherence
Current economic models often undervalue incretin therapies by excluding downstream benefits (e.g., reduced MACE, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis), leading to high ICERs that may exceed willingness-to-pay thresholds without price reductions.
For payers, these drugs are expensive. However, if you account for long-term health savings (fewer heart attacks, surgeries), they can be cost-effective, especially if the price is lowered or targeted at high-risk patients.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
The CDA’s 2022 economic reanalysis assumed approximately 3 years of treatment use... The analysis suggested that a price reduction of 71% would be required for semaglutide to be cost-effective... Traditional HTA designs are built around single-disease endpoints and are therefore likely to undervalue these therapies.
Why this rating
Based on economic modeling studies and HTA reports, which vary in assumptions.
Source
Cost-effectiveness of incretin therapies: a Canadian lens on diabetes, obesity, and emerging indications
Luke Awadalla et al. · Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology · 2026
DOI 10.1139/cjpp-2025-0248
narrative_review
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide) and dual agonists (tirzepatide) are clinically effective for glycemic control and significant weight loss, with tirzepatide demonstrating superior magnitude of weight loss compared to semaglutide in head-to-head trials.Good
- Incretin therapies reduce Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (MACE) and all-cause mortality in patients with T2DM and/or established cardiovascular disease, independent of glycemic control.Good
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