Utilisation and expenditure on glucose-lowering drugs used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Ireland, a repeated cross-sectional study

To provide an update on the utilisation and expenditure on glucose-lowering drugs used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Ireland a repeated cross-sectional study of national pharmacy claims data. the data included in this study are nationally representative (Republic of Ireland). data on persons receiving glucose-lowering drugs used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes were included. We identified; the number of prescriptions and number of patients receiving a glucose-lowering agent, the total expenditure associated with glucose-lowering agents, and the rate of prescribing per 1,000 population. There has been an increase in the utilisation of glucose-lowering agents over the study period, with over 1.5 million items being dispensed to 105,236 patients in 2012 and over 2.1 million items being dispensed to 145,116 patients in 2019. The largest increases in utilisation were for SGLT-2 inhibitors; in 2019 there were 205,659 items dispensed to 23,074 patients. This increase in glucose-lowering utilisation has resulted in an increase in expenditure from €29.7 million in 2012 to €57 million in 2019. This study shows that newer agents (DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 analogues, and SGLT-2 inhibitors) are changing the landscape of type 2 diabetes treatment in Ireland. The increase in the utilisation of higher-cost novel agents, in the context of an ageing population and increased incidence of type 2 diabetes, poses a significant economic burden to the state going forward.