Liraglutide
Weight Loss, Metabolic health
In short
- An FDA-approved GLP-1 receptor agonist (Victoza for diabetes, Saxenda for weight management).
- The predecessor to semaglutide, requiring daily rather than weekly injection because of its ~13 hour half-life.
- Largely superseded — semaglutide and tirzepatide produce greater weight reduction with less frequent dosing.
- Has a substantial cardiovascular outcome trial (LEADER) behind it.
- Now available as a generic in some markets, which makes it the cheapest legitimate GLP-1 option.
Structure
How it works
Liraglutide is a GLP-1 analogue with a fatty acid side chain that promotes albumin binding and self-association, extending the half-life from minutes to about 13 hours — enough for once-daily dosing but not weekly.
Mechanism is the same as the rest of the class: glucose-dependent insulin secretion, glucagon suppression, delayed gastric emptying, and central appetite reduction via hypothalamic and hindbrain receptors.
What the research shows
In the SCALE programme, liraglutide 3.0 mg produced roughly 8% mean weight reduction over 56 weeks versus about 2.6% on placebo — meaningfully less than semaglutide or tirzepatide.
LEADER demonstrated reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes with established cardiovascular disease.
Approved for adolescents in both indications, where the evidence base is more developed than for newer agents.
Dosing in the literature
Figures below are quoted from published studies, with the species or population they were measured in. They are records of what was studied, not recommendations.
| Studied in | Amount | Route | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human — type 2 diabetes (Victoza), approved label | 0.6 mg daily for 1 week, then 1.2 mg, then up to 1.8 mg daily | subcutaneous | FDA label |
| Human — weight management (Saxenda), approved label | Weekly increments of 0.6 mg to a target of 3.0 mg daily | subcutaneous | FDA label |
Commonly reported ranges
These are amounts people report using. They are not from any study, have not been evaluated for safety, and are reproduced here only because they circulate widely and are better seen alongside the evidence than instead of it.
No commonly reported ranges for this compound.
An approved medicine with a published label. The weekly escalation schedule exists to limit gastrointestinal effects.
Handling and storage
Prefilled pen, once daily, any time of day, with or without food, at roughly the same time each day. Rotate injection sites.
Side effects
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and constipation dominate the side-effect profile across this entire class. They are dose-related, worst after each escalation, and are the reason titration schedules exist. Serious but uncommon events include pancreatitis and gallbladder disease, the latter more likely with rapid weight loss. Delayed gastric emptying is now addressed in pre-operative anaesthesia guidance because of aspiration risk from retained stomach contents.
Boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumours based on rodent data; contraindicated with personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN2.
Daily injection means more injection-site exposure than weekly agents.
Weight regain after discontinuation is consistent across this class and is not a failure of the drug — appetite regulation returns to baseline when the receptor stops being activated. Any decision to start should account for what stopping looks like.
Combinations
Duplicating GLP-1 agonism with another incretin agent adds side effects without benefit.
With insulin or sulfonylureas, dose reduction of those agents is usually required to avoid hypoglycaemia.
Research status
Extensive: the LEAD programme in diabetes, SCALE in obesity, and LEADER for cardiovascular outcomes. Along with semaglutide and tirzepatide, this is one of the properly evidenced medicines in this library.
Legal status
FDA-approved and prescription-only in the US, with equivalent status elsewhere. Generic versions have become available in some markets following patent expiry.
WADA status
Not currently prohibited by WADA. Verify against the live list before competition.
Conclusion
Liraglutide is the older, weaker, more frequently injected member of the GLP-1 family, and it is also the one most likely to be affordable and legitimately obtainable as a generic.
If the choice is between grey-market semaglutide and prescribed generic liraglutide, the pharmacology favours semaglutide and everything else favours liraglutide.
Sources
Track your own Liraglutide protocol
Peppers logs your doses, models your levels from this half-life, tracks your vials and tells you when you will run out. Free on iPhone.
Reference and educational information only. Not medical advice. Nothing here diagnoses, treats, or prescribes, and nothing here is a recommendation to use any compound. The compounds described are research chemicals and are not approved for human consumption. Legal and anti-doping status change — the review date above is when these claims were last checked. Talk to a qualified clinician about anything you intend to take.