Liraglutide FAQ: Victoza, Saxenda and the Generics, Answered

Liraglutide is the GLP-1 medicine most people have never heard of and many people can actually afford. This page answers the questions searchers ask most, with the answers pulled from the FDA labels, the FDA’s own drug databases, and the published trials.

Nothing here is medical advice. Dosing, starting, stopping and switching are decisions for a healthcare provider who knows your history.

What is liraglutide, exactly?

Liraglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist — a lab-made molecule that mimics a gut hormone your body releases after you eat. It slows how fast the stomach empties, prompts insulin release when blood sugar is high, dampens glucagon, and reduces appetite.

It was developed by Novo Nordisk and has an initial US approval date of 2010. It is injected under the skin once a day [1][2].

There is one concentration on the US market: 6 mg per milliliter, in a 3 mL prefilled single-patient-use pen — 18 mg per pen. What changes between products is how high the pen can dial.

What are the brand names?

Brand	Approved for	Dial goes up to	Also approved for
Victoza	Type 2 diabetes, ages 10 and up	1.8 mg daily	Reducing major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease
Saxenda	Chronic weight management, ages 12 and up (over 60 kg) and adults with overweight plus a weight-related condition	3 mg daily	—

There is also Xultophy 100/3.6, a fixed combination of insulin degludec and liraglutide for type 2 diabetes. It is still on the US market: the FDA’s drug code directory lists NDC 0169-2911 with no marketing end date as of the September 11, 2026 file, and CMS published a pharmacy acquisition cost of $85.90 per mL for it in the file effective August 19, 2026 (verified 2026-09-14) [3][4][16]. It is the only liraglutide-containing product with no generic.

The two labels differ on combining, and the difference is often reported wrongly. The Saxenda label’s Limitations of Use say coadministration with other liraglutide-containing products or with any other GLP-1 receptor agonist is not recommended. The Victoza label’s Limitations of Use are narrower: they say only that coadministration with other liraglutide-containing products is not recommended, without the broader GLP-1 clause [1][2].

Is a generic liraglutide the same as generic Saxenda?

Not necessarily, and this trips people up constantly.

A generic is approved against a specific brand. A generic approved against Victoza is a diabetes product that maxes out at 1.8 mg. A generic approved against Saxenda is a weight-management product that reaches 3 mg. Same molecule, same strength on the box, different approved products — and a pharmacy cannot swap one for the other.

Company names do not settle it either. Teva markets an authorized generic of Victoza and, under a separate application, a generic of Saxenda. Both boxes say “liraglutide injection” [4].

If you are being treated for weight management and need to reach 3 mg, the prescription and the product dispensed have to be the Saxenda-referenced one.

Who makes generic liraglutide?

Reading the FDA’s National Drug Code directory on September 11, 2026 [4]:

Victoza-referenced (diabetes, 1.8 mg maximum): Hybio Pharmaceutical (single-pen listing from June 2024, cartons from December 2024 — see the note below), Teva as an authorized generic (June 2024), Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA (December 2024), Meitheal Pharmaceuticals (April 2025), Lupin Pharmaceuticals (October 2025), Orbicular Pharmaceutical Technologies (January 2026), Cipla USA (January 2026), NorthStar Rx (March 2026) and Biocon Pharma (April 2026).

Saxenda-referenced (weight management, 3 mg): Teva (August 2025), Cipla USA (February 2026), Orbicular (February 2026) and Biocon Pharma (March 2026).

The FDA approved the first true generic referencing Victoza on December 23, 2024, granted to Hikma, and noted at the time that liraglutide was on the drug shortage list and that shortage status speeds up generic review [5]. Teva announced FDA approval and launch of the first generic Saxenda on August 28, 2025, describing it as the first generic GLP-1 indicated for weight loss [6].

One inconsistency in the federal data is worth naming rather than smoothing over. The NDC directory gives Hybio a marketing start date of June 21, 2024 for a single-pen presentation under ANDA215503, but Drugs@FDA records that application as approved on December 23, 2024, and Hybio’s two- and three-pen cartons carry a start date of December 24, 2024 [4][17]. Drugs@FDA names Hikma as the applicant for ANDA215503; Hybio labels product under that same application. The earliest generic liraglutide a US patient could actually buy was Teva’s authorized generic on June 24, 2024, followed by the Hikma- and Hybio-labeled true generics after the December approval. Nothing in this lane should be read as saying a true ANDA generic was on sale before the FDA approved one.

What does liraglutide cost?

There is no single answer, and the biggest mistake in reading any of these numbers is treating a discount-card site’s “retail” column as a price you would actually be charged. It is that site’s own average. Prices checked on September 14, 2026 [7][8]:

Product	Package	GoodRx average retail	With GoodRx coupon
Generic liraglutide (Victoza-equivalent)	2 pens	$615.85	$112.19 (verified 2026-09-14)
Generic liraglutide (Victoza-equivalent)	3 pens	$924.00	$154.01
Generic liraglutide (Saxenda-equivalent)	5 pens	$717.63	$372.45

GoodRx also advertises the two-pen diabetes carton at $101.90, but that is a GoodRx Companion paid subscription price, not the free coupon price. Across pharmacies and ZIP codes the five-pen weight-management carton spans roughly $372 to $1,240 — a range, not a point figure.

Other cash sellers published very different numbers on the same day. Cost Plus Drugs lists the Victoza-referenced generic at $87.80 and $129.20 per what its pages call “a 1 count supply of 18 mg/3 mL” [18]; whether that is per pen or per box is not stated clearly enough to turn into a monthly figure. SingleCare listed $63.10 per 18 mg/3 mL pen with its discount card against a $400.18 cash price, and about $276 for three pens or $496 for five with the card [19]. Amazon Pharmacy showed a $495.66 retail price and a line saying most customers pay around $11 — that $11 is an average of insured copays, not a cash price [20]. Brand Saxenda’s manufacturer list price is $1,349.02 a month, per NovoCare; its “as little as $25” offer is a savings-card tier that requires commercial insurance already covering Saxenda, not a self-pay price [21].

Price both the generic and the brand, at more than one pharmacy, before you fill. Some insurance plans put the brand on a lower tier than the generic.

What you pay with insurance is a different calculation entirely and depends on your plan’s formulary and any prior authorization requirement.

How is liraglutide dosed?

Your prescriber decides this. What follows summarizes the dosage sections of the FDA-approved prescribing information and the Instructions for Use that come in the carton. It is a description of those documents, not instructions for you: follow your own prescription and your provider’s directions, which can legitimately differ from the label.

Saxenda and its generics [1]: 0.6 mg daily in week 1, 1.2 mg in week 2, 1.8 mg in week 3, 2.4 mg in week 4, then 3 mg from week 5 onward. For adults, 3 mg is the recommended dose and the lower steps exist only for titration; the label says to discontinue if 3 mg cannot be tolerated. For patients aged 12 to 17, escalation may take up to 8 weeks and the maintenance dose may be reduced to 2.4 mg if 3 mg is not tolerated.

Victoza and its generics [2]: 0.6 mg daily for one week, then 1.2 mg daily, then a maximum of 1.8 mg daily after at least a week at 1.2 mg if more blood sugar control is needed. The label states plainly that 0.6 mg is not effective for glycemic control in adults and exists only to reduce stomach side effects. Patients aged 10 and up start at 0.6 mg and step up in 0.6 mg increments at intervals of at least a week, to a maximum of 1.8 mg.

Missed doses. Both prescribing informations tell clinicians that when a dose is missed, the once-daily regimen is resumed with the next scheduled dose and that no extra dose is given to make up for it. Both also direct that when more than three days have elapsed since the last dose, treatment is reinitiated at 0.6 mg and re-escalated; the Victoza label adds that on reinitiation the drug “should be titrated at the discretion of the healthcare provider.” The patient-facing Saxenda Medication Guide is more conservative still, telling patients who have missed doses for three days or more to call their healthcare provider to talk about how to restart treatment. That call is the step this page recommends, not a self-restart [1][2].

When should someone stop taking it?

The Saxenda label has two explicit checkpoints, which is unusual [1]:

• Adults: check weight at 16 weeks; discontinue if the person has not lost at least 4% of baseline body weight, because meaningful weight loss is then unlikely.
• Ages 12 to 17: check BMI after 12 weeks on the maintenance dose; discontinue if BMI has not fallen at least 1% from baseline.

Beyond that, the labels direct discontinuation if pancreatitis is suspected, if a serious allergic reaction occurs, and when a pregnancy is recognized.

What do the labels say about storing the pen?

This section summarizes the FDA-approved Instructions for Use that ship inside the carton. It is a description of that document, not a substitute for it — the copy in your own box, and your pharmacist, govern how your pen is handled. Both labels describe the same storage conditions [1][2]:

• Before first use, the pen is refrigerated between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit, not frozen, and not stored directly against the refrigerator’s cooling element. A pen that has been frozen is not used.
• After first use, the pen is described as usable for 30 days either at controlled room temperature (59 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit) or in the refrigerator.
• The cap stays on, and the pen is kept away from heat and light.
• The needle is removed and discarded after every injection and the pen is stored with no needle attached.
• A new needle is used for each injection.
• The labels state that a pen is never shared between people, even with a new needle, because of the risk of transmitting bloodborne infection.

What are the warnings?

Every liraglutide product carries a boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumors: liraglutide caused dose-dependent and duration-dependent thyroid C-cell tumors in rats and mice at clinically relevant exposures, and whether it does so in humans is unknown. It is contraindicated for anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 [1][5].

Other warnings on the current labels: acute pancreatitis; acute gallbladder disease; low blood sugar (especially with insulin or a sulfonylurea); increased resting heart rate; acute kidney injury from dehydration caused by vomiting or diarrhea; severe gastrointestinal reactions, with a note that liraglutide is not recommended in severe gastroparesis; serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis and angioedema; and pulmonary aspiration during general anesthesia or deep sedation, for which the labels direct prescribers to inform patients to disclose their use of the drug before any planned surgery or procedure [1][2].

Two things changed recently and many websites have not caught up. The formal pregnancy contraindication was removed from the Saxenda label in May 2025 (pregnancy is now covered in Use in Specific Populations, where the label says to discontinue when a pregnancy is recognized), and the Suicidal Behavior and Ideation subsection was removed in February 2026 [1].

What are the common side effects?

From the Saxenda label’s pooled adult trials: nausea 39.3% (versus 13.8% on placebo), diarrhea 20.9% (9.9%), constipation 19.4% (8.5%), vomiting 15.7% (3.9%), injection site reactions 13.9% (10.5%), headache 13.6% (12.6%). About 10% of people stopped because of a side effect, most in the first few months [1].

In the adolescent trial, vomiting was much more common than in adults (34.4% versus 4.0% on placebo), and low blood sugar occurred in 15.2% of liraglutide-treated adolescents even though none had type 2 diabetes [1].

How does liraglutide compare with the weekly drugs?

Two head-to-head randomized trials answer this.

For weight loss — STEP 8 compared weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg with daily liraglutide 3.0 mg over 68 weeks in 338 adults. Average weight change: −15.8% versus −6.4%, a difference of 9.4 percentage points. Gastrointestinal side effects were nearly identical (84.1% versus 82.7%), but 27.6% of the liraglutide group quit versus 13.5% of the semaglutide group [9].

For blood sugar — SUSTAIN 10 compared weekly semaglutide 1.0 mg with daily liraglutide 1.2 mg over 30 weeks in 577 adults with type 2 diabetes. A1C fell 1.7 points versus 1.0, and weight fell 5.8 kg versus 1.9 kg, both favoring semaglutide [10]. Note the liraglutide dose used was 1.2 mg, not its maximum 1.8 mg.

A 2025 Cochrane review of 24 trials and 9,937 participants concluded liraglutide likely increases the proportion of people achieving at least 5% weight loss, while rating the evidence on percentage weight change, cardiovascular events, quality of life and mortality as limited or uncertain [11].

Why would anyone choose the daily drug?

Several real reasons:

1. Price. It is the only GLP-1 with genuine generic competition, and the cash prices show it.
2. Insurance. Plenty of plans that refuse semaglutide or tirzepatide for weight loss will cover liraglutide, sometimes as a required step before anything else.
3. Pediatric coverage. Victoza goes down to age 10 for type 2 diabetes; Saxenda to age 12 for obesity.
4. Cardiovascular evidence. In LEADER, Victoza 1.8 mg reduced major adverse cardiovascular events versus placebo in 9,340 adults with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease — a hazard ratio of 0.87, driven mainly by fewer cardiovascular deaths [12]. That indication carries over to Victoza-referenced generics.
5. Supply. During the worst of the semaglutide and tirzepatide shortages, liraglutide was often the one a pharmacy could actually fill.

The counterweight is real too: 365 injections a year, smaller results, and the highest dropout rate of the options people are usually choosing between.

Is liraglutide approved for younger children?

Not in the US. The Saxenda label stops at age 12 [1].

A phase 3a trial called SCALE Kids randomized 82 children aged 6 to under 12 with obesity to liraglutide 3.0 mg or placebo for 56 weeks, published online by the New England Journal of Medicine in September 2024 and in print in February 2025. BMI fell 5.8% in the liraglutide group and rose 1.6% in the placebo group, an estimated difference of 7.4 percentage points. Gastrointestinal side effects hit 80% versus 54% [13]. Positive results, but no FDA approval for that age group as of September 14, 2026.

Can I still get Saxenda?

The brand, for now. The FDA’s drug discontinuation database recorded a Novo Nordisk notice on August 25, 2026 stating that Saxenda “will be available until discontinuation in January 2027,” with the reason given as discontinuation of the manufacture of the drug. The same database lists its availability as Limited in the meantime [14]. No matching press release appeared in Novo Nordisk’s US news archive as of September 14, 2026, so that date should be attributed to the FDA record.

Liraglutide Injection as a whole is listed as Currently in Shortage, a listing first posted in July 2023. Within it, Hikma’s and Meitheal’s presentations were marked Available in their most recent updates, while both Victoza package sizes were marked Limited Availability due to a shipping delay with no estimated end date [15]. The FDA displays a banner noting the shortage database is experiencing technical difficulties and may not reflect current supply, so ask your pharmacy.

What should I ask my provider or pharmacist?

• Am I being prescribed the Victoza-referenced product or the Saxenda-referenced one, and is that the right one for what we are treating?
• What is the cash price here, and what is it with my insurance, for both the brand and the generic?
• Is this pharmacy able to reliably restock this NDC, or should I plan to call ahead?
• Given my history, is a daily GLP-1 the right starting point, or should we be looking at a weekly one?
• What should I do if I miss doses or run out because of a supply gap?

Sources

1. SAXENDA (liraglutide) injection, solution — prescribing information, DailyMed, updated 2026-02-25
2. VICTOZA (liraglutide) injection — prescribing information, DailyMed, revised 10/2025
3. DailyMed search results for liraglutide, retrieved 2026-09-14
4. FDA National Drug Code Directory — liraglutide products, openFDA API, data updated 2026-09-11
5. FDA Approves First Generic of Once-Daily GLP-1 Injection to Lower Blood Sugar in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes, 2024-12-23
6. Teva Announces FDA Approval and Launch of Generic Saxenda (liraglutide injection), 2025-08-28
7. Liraglutide (Victoza) prices — GoodRx, retrieved 2026-09-14
8. Liraglutide (Saxenda) prices — GoodRx, retrieved 2026-09-14
9. STEP 8 Randomized Clinical Trial — JAMA, January 2022
10. Capehorn MS et al. SUSTAIN 10. Diabetes & Metabolism, 2020
11. Meza N et al. Liraglutide for adults living with obesity. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2025-10-30
12. Marso SP et al. Liraglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes (LEADER). New England Journal of Medicine, 2016
13. Fox CK et al. Liraglutide for Children 6 to <12 Years of Age with Obesity — SCALE Kids. New England Journal of Medicine, 2025;392(6):555-565 (online 2024-09-10)
14. FDA Drug Shortages — Liraglutide Injection, discontinuation record
15. FDA Drug Shortages — Liraglutide Injection, current shortage record
16. NADAC (National Average Drug Acquisition Cost) 2026 — file effective 2026-08-19, CMS
17. Drugs@FDA application and approval records for liraglutide, openFDA drugsfda endpoint, retrieved 2026-09-14
18. Liraglutide 18 mg/3 mL solution pen-injector — Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, two listings, retrieved 2026-09-14
19. Liraglutide prices and liraglutide generic cost without insurance — SingleCare, retrieved 2026-09-14
20. LIRAGLUTIDE 18 MG/3ML PEN INJ — Amazon Pharmacy, retrieved 2026-09-14
21. Saxenda (liraglutide) injection 3 mg list price explained — NovoCare, Novo Nordisk, retrieved 2026-09-14