CMS data show Victoza and Saxenda spending fell sharply in the first year of generic liraglutide

Medicare Part D spending on the brand-name liraglutide drug Victoza fell to about $281 million in 2024 from about $1.32 billion in 2023, while generic liraglutide recorded about $48 million in Part D spending, according to CMS drug spending files ^[1]. Medicaid spending on Saxenda, the other brand-name liraglutide product, fell to about $38.4 million from about $129.5 million over the same period ^[2]. The files show no generic liraglutide spending before 2024 ^[1][2].

Brand spending and volume both dropped

Victoza appears in the Part D file in two package sizes. Spending on the 3-pak fell to about $203.1 million in 2024 from about $1.00 billion in 2023, and the 2-pak fell to about $77.8 million from about $317.2 million ^[1].

Volume fell as well. Part D claims for the Victoza 3-pak dropped to 181,068 in 2024 from 574,218 in 2023, and the number of beneficiaries fell to 62,754 from 142,213 ^[1]. The average spending per dosage unit for the 3-pak dropped about 32 percent, to $86.21 from $126.95, and the 2-pak's per-unit figure fell about 28 percent, to $91.45 from $126.64 ^[1].

Generic liraglutide in Part D totaled $48,095,824.39 across 62,254 claims and 24,405 beneficiaries, an average of $772.57 per claim ^[1]. Teva accounted for $48,061,740.48 of that total and Hikma for $34,083.91 ^[1].

Medicaid figures follow a similar pattern

In the Medicaid file, Saxenda spending fell to $38,439,281.57 in 2024 from $129,453,415.42 in 2023, with dosage units down to 462,810 from 1,504,204 and claims down to 33,533 from 107,319 ^[2]. Average spending per dosage unit was nearly flat, at $83.06 in 2024 compared with $86.06 in 2023 ^[2], so the decline came mainly from fewer prescriptions rather than a lower unit price.

Medicaid spending on Victoza also fell: the 3-pak to about $148.3 million from about $387.0 million, and the 2-pak to about $77.3 million from about $198.0 million ^[2]. Generic liraglutide in Medicaid totaled $30,970,808.09 across 53,174 claims, again almost all of it from Teva ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

Victoza and Saxenda both contain liraglutide, an older GLP-1 medicine ^[1][2]. It is a different molecule from semaglutide (sold as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus) and tirzepatide (sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound), the drugs most patients now ask about.

The 2024 figures show how quickly brand spending can fall once a generic version reaches the market, and how much of that shift comes from patients moving to the generic rather than from the brand's price falling. In Part D, the brand Victoza 3-pak still cost more per claim than generic liraglutide, at $1,121.47 versus $772.57 ^[1].

What these files do not show is what patients paid at the pharmacy counter. The published totals are overall spending figures, not out-of-pocket costs, and they do not detail what individual plans charge for liraglutide, brand or generic. Whether the drop in total spending translated into lower costs for patients has not been reported in these files.

Nothing in the data covers generic versions of semaglutide or tirzepatide. Whether such products will reach the market, when that might happen and what they would cost has not been disclosed in these figures.