Claimed effect · Liraglutide

Does Liraglutide help with body weight?

A
Grade A — established in humans5 SCALE RCTs · effect size: moderate
Short answerEstablished in humans. 5 SCALE RCTs point the same way: a moderate effect. SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, 3,731 adults, 56 weeks: −8.0% on liraglutide 3.0 mg versus −2.6% on placebo; 63% versus 27% lost at least 5%, 33% versus 11% at least 10%.

What the studies show

SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, 3,731 adults, 56 weeks: −8.0% on liraglutide 3.0 mg versus −2.6% on placebo; 63% versus 27% lost at least 5%, 33% versus 11% at least 10%.

“At week 56, patients in the liraglutide group had lost a mean of 8.4±7.3 kg of body weight, and those in the placebo group had lost a mean of 2.8±6.5 kg (a difference of -5.6 kg; 95% confidence interval, -6.0 to -5.1; P<0.001, with last-observation-carried-forward imputation).”

Verbatim, from the abstractPi-Sunyer X, et al. A randomized, controlled trial of 3.0 mg of liraglutide in weight management (SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes). N Engl J Med, 2015; DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa1411892

Several well-run randomised trials in people, pointing the same way. You can plan around this. It still says nothing about whether the effect is worth the side effects for you.

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In context

Liraglutide is a once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist and the drug that proved the class. In the 3,731-person SCALE trial it produced 8.0% weight loss at 56 weeks against 2.6% on placebo, and in the 9,340-person LEADER trial it cut major cardiovascular events by 13% and cardiovascular death by 22% in people with type 2 diabetes. It is approved almost everywhere, now generic, and less effective than the weekly drugs that followed it.

Liraglutide is approved (saxenda, victoza). Legal status differs by country — see the regulation section or the jurisdiction pages.

Questions

Is Liraglutide proven to help with body weight?
Yes, as far as human trials can show it: 5 SCALE RCTs. LYO grades this outcome A.
What studies are behind the grade?
SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, 3,731 adults, 56 weeks: −8.0% on liraglutide 3.0 mg versus −2.6% on placebo; 63% versus 27% lost at least 5%, 33% versus 11% at least 10%.
Is Liraglutide approved for this?
Liraglutide is an approved medicine (Approved (Saxenda, Victoza)); whether this particular outcome is a licensed indication is stated on the compound page's regulation section.

Other outcomes for Liraglutide

Written and maintained by LYO Research — how pages are written and checked. Reviewed 3 September 2026. Grades count human evidence only; see how LYO grades. Not medical advice. Correct this page →