Liraglutide, sold under the brand name Victoza among others, is an anti-diabetic medication used to treat type 2 diabetes, and chronic obesity. It is a second-line therapy for diabetes following first-line therapy with metformin. Its effects on long-term health outcomes like heart disease and life expectancy are unclear. It is given by injection under the skin. Liraglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 receptor agonist) also known as incretin mimetics. It works by increasing insulin release from the pancreas and decreases excessive glucagon release. Common side effects include low blood sugar, nausea, dizziness, abdominal pain, and pain at the site of injection. Gastrointestinal side-effects tend to be strongest at the beginning of treatment period and subside over time. Other serious side effects may include angioedema, pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, and kidney problems. Use in pregnancy and breastfeeding is of unclear safety. Liraglutide was approved for medical use in the European Union in 2009, and in the United States in 2010. It is available as a generic medication. In 2023, it was the 209th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 2 million prescriptions.
Medical uses Liraglutide is an anti-diabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes or obesity. Liraglutide (Victoza) is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in people aged ten years of age and older with type 2 diabetes; and to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease. Liraglutide (Saxenda) is indicated in combination with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in people aged twelve years of age and older with body weight greater than 60 kilograms (130 lb) and obesity; and in adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition.
Type 2 diabetes Liraglutide improves control of blood glucose. In people with high cardiovascular risk, liraglutide has been shown to reduce the risk for first occurrence of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines consider liraglutide a first line pharmacologic therapy for type 2 diabetes (usually together with metformin), specifically for people with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or obesity. A 2011 Cochrane review showed a HbA1c reduction of 0.24% more with liraglutide 1.8 mg compared to insulin glargine, 0.33% more than exenatide 10 μg twice daily, sitagliptin and rosiglitazone. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing liraglutide, glargine, glimepiride, and sitagliptin (all added to metformin) with a follow-up of five years, glargine and liraglutide were modestly more effective in achieving and maintaining target HbA1c, with no difference in outcomes of microvascular and cardiovascular disease.
Obesity Liraglutide may also be used together with diet and exercise for chronic weight management in adults. Liraglutide led to greater weight loss than some previous glucagon-like peptide analogues, but is less effective than the standard weight loss dose of semaglutide.
Adverse effects
Common side effects include low blood sugar, nausea, dizziness, abdominal pain, and pain at the site of injection. Gastrointestinal side-effects tend to be strongest at the beginning of treatment period and subside over time. Other serious side effects may include angioedema, pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, and kidney problems. Use in pregnancy and breastfeeding is of unclear safety. A boxed warning in the US prescribing information cautions that medullary thyroid cancers have been observed in rats treated with liraglutide, but it is "unknown whether liraglutide causes thyroid C-cell tumors, including medullary thyroid carcinoma, in humans, as relevance to humans of such tumors in rodents has not been determined."
Thyroid cancer At exposures eight times greater than those used in humans, liraglutide caused a statistically significant increase in thyroid tumors in rats. The clinical relevance of these findings is unknown. In clinical trials, the rate of thyroid tumors in participants treated with liraglutide was 1.3 per 1000 participant years (4 people) compared to 1.0 per 1000 participants (1 person) in comparison groups. The sole participant in the comparator group and four of the five participants in the liraglutide group had serum markers (elevated calcitonin) suggestive of pre-existing disease at baseline. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said serum calcitonin, a biomarker of medullary thyroid cancer, was slightly increased in liraglutide patients, but still within normal ranges, and it required ongoing monitoring for 15 years in a cancer registry.
Pancreatitis In 2013, an apparently statistically significant association between hospitalization for acute pancreatitis and prior treatment with GLP-1 derivatives (such as exenatide) and DPP-4 inhibitors (such as sitagliptin) was reported. In response, the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency conducted a review of all available data regarding the possible connection between incretin mimetics and pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer. In a joint 2014 letter, the agencies concluded that "A pooled analysis of data from 14,611 patients with type 2 diabetes from 25 clinical trials in the sitagliptin database provided no compelling evidence of an increased risk of pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer" and "Both agencies agree that assertions concerning a causal association between incretin-based drugs and pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, as expressed recently in the scientific literature and in the media, are inconsistent with the current data. The FDA and the EMA have not reached a final conclusion regarding such a causal relationship. Although the totality of the data that have been reviewed provides reassurance, pancreatitis will continue to be considered a risk associated with these drugs until more data are available; both agencies continue to investigate this safety signal."
Suicidal behavior and ideation In January 2026, the US Food and Drug Administration requested removal of suicidal behavior and ideation warning from glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) medications.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
