Valeritas Inc., a commercial-stage medical technology company focused on developing innovative technologies to improve the health and quality of life of people with type 2 diabetes, announced the results of a retrospective study analysis of the health and economic benefits of its lead product, V-Go, a simple, wearable, basal-bolus insulin delivery solution for patients with type 2 diabetes.
The data shared was from an analysis conducted by Diabetes America Texas, a large specialty health care system. The results were announced in a poster presentation, Evaluating V-Go in Patients with Poorly Controlled Diabetes: A Health and Economic Analysis from a Diabetes Specialty System, at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s 27th Annual Meeting and Expo in San Diego, California.
One hundred and three patients with type 2 diabetes were evaluated in this retrospective study analysis. All switched from their existing insulin therapies to V-Go. The impact on health and economic benefits were assessed after an average of 97 days on V-Go. Data demonstrated that 74% of the patients experienced a significant improvement in A1c (a measurement of glucose control) with a significant reduction in the total daily dose of insulin administered. Overall incidence of reported hypoglycemia was similar to baseline. Important to the economic benefit was a direct pharmacy savings of $1,080 per patient annually. In addition, a savings of $88,884 was calculated for total health care costs in a subset of the patient population.
"Patients with poorly controlled diabetes are at higher risk for diabetes complications which can have substantial health and cost implications. We found that patients who switched to V-Go experienced significant blood glucose improvement as well as a reduction in their total daily insulin,” said Dr. Rosemarie Lajara, President, Diabetes Centers of America, Physician Associates, P.A. “These findings support a positive impact on health care and pharmacy costs and could be applied more broadly at the health system and payer level.”
“It is our goal for the millions of people living with Type 2 diabetes on insulin therapy to enjoy the same benefits with V-Go that those in this study did. It is remarkable how a simple and easy change from previous therapies to V-Go can make a welcomed difference for patients. Furthermore, these results were achieved at a potential cost reduction and economic advantage for the healthcare system,” said Kristine Peterson, CEO of Valeritas.
V-Go is a small, discreet, wearable and easy-to-use disposable insulin delivery solution for the delivery of basal-bolus insulin therapy in adults with type 2 diabetes. V-Go enables patients to closely mimic the body's normal physiologic pattern of insulin delivery by releasing a single type of insulin at a continuous preset basal rate over a 24–hour period and also providing for on-demand bolus dosing at mealtimes.
V-Go is mechanical and operates for 24 hours without electronics, batteries, infusion sets or programming. It is worn on the skin under clothing and measures just 2.4 inches wide by 1.3 inches long by 0.5 inches thick, weighing approximately one ounce when filled with insulin.