GLP-1 receptor agonist
Liraglutide is a once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist used in FDA-approved products for chronic weight management and type 2 diabetes. It has a long human evidence record, including cardiovascular outcomes, but the named products and their labeled doses are not interchangeable.
Built by the community
Every structured report adds useful context about research setup, outcomes, and unwanted effects as the community dataset grows.
Publicly anonymous by default. Your account keeps reports editable and helps reduce duplicate submissions.Research at a glance
Depth and confidence summarize the research record—not effectiveness, safety, or a recommendation.
More than a decade of controlled trials and approved-product experience spans diabetes, weight, cardiovascular outcomes, and pediatric populations.
Research depth describes how large and mature the overall record is. It does not tell you whether the results were positive.
Large randomized trials support defined product-specific uses; smaller sleep, liver, and prediabetes studies do not create additional approved indications.
Confidence describes how reliable and consistent the conclusions are. It can be high for one outcome and low for another.
The strongest evidence type shows what the best-supported conclusions are actually based on.
Human findings are more directly relevant than animal or laboratory results, but they still apply only to the populations and outcomes studied.
Route-specific record
These are exposures used in cited research for a specific route and population—not a suggested amount.
Half-life describes how long it takes the measured amount in the body to fall by half. It is not a dosing recommendation.
Evidence can change by administration method. Findings from one route should not automatically be applied to another.
Evidence boundary: Saxenda and Victoza use different targets, indications, eligibility, and stopping rules. A shared ingredient does not make their schedules interchangeable. Amounts shown describe cited research exposure—not a dosage recommendation.
Practical starting point
Common goals and questions—not recommendations or promises of benefit.
The overview, studies, and source ledger below explain what supports each label—and where the evidence stops.
What the evidence says
Multiple randomized Phase 3 trials plus the 9,340-participant LEADER cardiovascular outcomes trial support approved product-specific weight, diabetes, pediatric, and cardiovascular findings.
This is the strongest supported conclusion in the current human evidence—not a summary of every claim made about the compound.
How long-term outcomes compare with newer weekly incretin therapies, how benefits persist after discontinuation, and whether smaller signals in sleep apnea, prediabetes, or fatty-liver disease translate into approved uses.
Keeping the main uncertainty visible prevents an early or promising finding from looking more settled than it is.
The evidence story
Importance shows how much an item changes the evidence story. Quality shows how much confidence the design deserves. A strong negative study can score highly on both.
Importance and quality answer different questions. A rigorous study can be highly important even when it challenges a popular claim.
Mean weight change was -15.8% with semaglutide and -6.4% with liraglutide. Gastrointestinal adverse events were reported by 84.1% and 82.7%, respectively.
Liraglutide improved the BMI standard-deviation score versus placebo. At least 5% BMI reduction occurred in an estimated 43.3% versus 18.7%, and at least 10% in 26.1% versus 8.1%.
At week 26, mean HbA1c decreased 0.64 percentage points with liraglutide and increased 0.42 points with placebo, an estimated difference of -1.06 points.
While on treatment, diabetes was diagnosed in 2% with liraglutide and 6% with placebo; the hazard ratio for diabetes onset was 0.21. Weight change at week 160 was -6.1% versus -1.9%.
The primary cardiovascular outcome occurred in 13.0% with liraglutide and 14.9% with placebo (hazard ratio 0.87). Cardiovascular death occurred in 4.7% versus 6.0%.
Administration and handling
Current U.S. labels describe once-daily subcutaneous injection. Saxenda and Victoza use different labeled escalation, maintenance, eligibility, and stopping rules, so the active-ingredient name alone is not an administration plan. The official label for the exact product is the controlling source. This is educational label context, not individualized dosing advice.
Approved Saxenda and Victoza products are clear, ready-to-use 6 mg/mL solutions in prefilled pens and do not require reconstitution. Unused pens are refrigerated and must not be frozen; in-use temperature windows and discard periods are label-specific. These instructions do not establish stability or reconstitution guidance for unapproved compounded, lyophilized, or vendor-supplied material.
Primary-source ledger
2026-06-01
2025-10-14
2022-01-11 · PMID 35015037 · NCT04074161 · DOI 10.1001/jama.2021.23619
2020-03-31 · PMID 32233338 · NCT02918279 · DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa1916038
2019-04-28 · PMID 31034184 · NCT01541215 · DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa1903822
2017-02-22 · PMID 28237263 · NCT01272219 · DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30069-7
2016-06-13 · PMID 27295427 · NCT01179048 · DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa1603827
2016-03-23 · PMID 27005405 · NCT01557166 · DOI 10.1038/ijo.2016.52
2015-11-20 · PMID 26608256 · NCT01237119 · DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00803-X
2015-07-02 · PMID 26132939 · NCT01272219 · DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa1411892