Insulin glargine superior long-term therapy in type 2 DM in Europe

The socioeconomic burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is onerous, due to its high prevalence and mortality, and the acute and chronic complications associated with the condition. In order to assess both the clinical and economic benefits of new therapies for type 2 DM, it is essential to establish the cost of the disease. At the 40th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) [Munich, Germany; September 2004], researchers from Switzerland established that insulin glargine is a cost-effective alternative to NPH insulin [insulin suspension isophane] in patients with type 2 DM in that country,1 while investigators from Spain and the US reached the same conclusion regarding these treatments among type 2 diabetic patients in Spain.2