Skip to the content
halfrx

What is Saxenda?

What is Saxenda, and how does it work?

Saxenda (liraglutide) is an injection made by Novo Nordisk, whose active ingredient is liraglutide. FDA approved for chronic weight management. A GLP-1 receptor agonist 97% identical to the human hormone, engineered to last far longer than the 1.5 to 2 minutes the natural one survives. In its pivotal trial it produced 7.4% mean weight loss. No all-in monthly price is on record for it.

How does Saxenda work? The label's words

Liraglutide is an acylated human GLP-1 receptor agonist with 97% amino acid sequence homology to endogenous human GLP-1(7-37). Like endogenous GLP-1, liraglutide binds to and activates the GLP-1 receptor, a cell-surface receptor coupled to adenylyl cyclase activation through the stimulatory G-protein, Gs. Endogenous GLP-1 has a half-life of 1.5 to 2 minutes due to degradation by the ubiquitous endogenous enzymes, dipeptidyl peptidase-4.

Quoted from the mechanism of action section of FDA prescribing information for SAXENDA, read 2026-08-29. Not paraphrased: how a drug works is the last thing a price site should put in its own words.

What is Saxenda approved for?

  • Chronic weight management

    To reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with body weight greater than 60 kg and obesity, and in adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition.

Approvals are quoted from the label, because the wording is what a prior authorization is judged against. Which approval a plan cannot exclude — a weight-loss exclusion is written against the use, not the molecule.

How much weight did Saxenda lose in its trial?

7.4% of body weight. SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, Study 1 on the label, 56 weeks: 7.4% mean weight loss on 3 mg against 3.0% on placebo, intention-to-treat.

One trial, one protocol, one population. Comparing it with another drug's figure compares two separate experiments rather than two drugs — the comparison, and what a point of body weight costs.

It carries a boxed warning — the strongest the FDA issues

In rodents this molecule caused thyroid C-cell tumors at human-relevant doses. Whether it does so in people is unknown, and the label carries that as a boxed warning. It is contraindicated outright with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2.

Everything the label lists, including who cannot take it →

How much does Saxenda cost?

Nothing published states an all-in monthly figure, so this site records none rather than estimating one.

Saxenda price and terms →The cheapest way to get it →

No clinician has reviewed this page. Label and trial statements are quoted from the FDA label or the trial cited beside them. General guidance is marked as such, and every price carries the date it was verified. That is sourcing, not medical review. What we do and do not check · Who checked the price

Saxenda, answered

Is Saxenda a GLP-1?
Yes. Saxenda is liraglutide, and it is a GLP-1 receptor agonist: it acts on the receptor for GLP-1, a hormone the gut releases after eating.
Is Saxenda insulin?
No. Saxenda is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, not insulin: it acts on the body's own insulin release rather than replacing insulin. That is why these drugs' labels warn of low blood sugar mainly when they are taken with insulin or a sulfonylurea.
Does Saxenda come in a pill?
No. Saxenda is an injection, and no pill of liraglutide is among the products tracked here.

Everything on Saxenda

Last updated 2026-08-29 — the FDA label this page quotes. Read and dated by Alex Seot.

Something on this page wrong? Tell us

Please leave out anything about your own health. How a report is handled: privacy.