Pioglitazone the answer to managing type 2 DM in Europe?
- Hunt, Laura
The global prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), a costly and chronic disease, is increasing, due to the westernisation of lifestyles that can lead to insulin resistance and obesity. Type 2 DM is becoming a serious health problem in Europe, proving a constant drain on healthcare resources, with total direct treatment costs associated with the disease consuming up to 10% of national healthcare budgets. Pioglitazone ['Actos'; Takeda], one of the new thiazolidinedione class of oral antidiabetic drugs, has recently been approved for use in Europe in combination with a sulphonylurea or metformin in patients with type 2 DM. Five studies presented at the 4th Annual ISPOR Meeting in Cannes, France, in November, evaluated the cost effectiveness of pioglitazone in the management of patients with type 2 DM in several European countries. All five studies were conducted by investigative teams from Eli Lilly and Company and the Institute for Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, Switzerland, and received financial support from Eli Lilly and Company, UK.