What is Saxenda approved for?

chronic weight management. Approvals are quoted from the label rather than summarised, because the wording is what a prior authorisation is judged against — the full text of each is on the indications page.

How much weight did Saxenda lose in its trial?

8% of body weight. SCALE: about 8% mean weight loss over 56 weeks That is what one trial reported under its own protocol, not a prediction for any person, and it cannot be compared directly with another drug's figure because no trial ran them against each other.

How much does Saxenda cost?

$415 a month once titrated, read from the seller's own page on 2026-06-10. The starting dose is usually cheaper and nobody stays on it, which is why the maintenance figure is the one this site records.

What is Saxenda approved for?

chronic weight management. Approvals are quoted from the label rather than summarised, because the wording is what a prior authorisation is judged against — the full text of each is on the indications page.

How much weight did Saxenda lose in its trial?

8% of body weight. SCALE: about 8% mean weight loss over 56 weeks That is what one trial reported under its own protocol, not a prediction for any person, and it cannot be compared directly with another drug's figure because no trial ran them against each other.

How much does Saxenda cost?

$415 a month once titrated, read from the seller's own page on 2026-06-10. The starting dose is usually cheaper and nobody stays on it, which is why the maintenance figure is the one this site records.

What is Saxenda?

What is Saxenda, and how does it work?

Saxenda (liraglutide) is a 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 8% mean weight loss. It costs $415 a month once titrated, a figure read from the seller's own page on 2026-06-10 — the maintenance rate rather than the starting dose, because the starting dose is not the dose anyone stays on.

How it works, from the label

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.

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 it is 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.

Which approval a plan cannot exclude — a weight-loss exclusion is written against the use, not the molecule.

What the trial found

8% of body weight. SCALE: about 8% mean weight loss over 56 weeks

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 tumours 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 →

What it costs

$415 a month once titrated, read from the seller's own page on 2026-06-10. Definitional pages in this category stop before this line; it is the reason this one exists.

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

Saxenda, answered

How does Saxenda work?: 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. The label's own words, from its mechanism of action section: "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."
What is Saxenda approved for?: chronic weight management. Approvals are quoted from the label rather than summarised, because the wording is what a prior authorisation is judged against — the full text of each is on the indications page.
How much weight did Saxenda lose in its trial?: 8% of body weight. SCALE: about 8% mean weight loss over 56 weeks That is what one trial reported under its own protocol, not a prediction for any person, and it cannot be compared directly with another drug's figure because no trial ran them against each other.
How much does Saxenda cost?: $415 a month once titrated, read from the seller's own page on 2026-06-10. The starting dose is usually cheaper and nobody stays on it, which is why the maintenance figure is the one this site records.

Last updated 2026-08-29 — the FDA label this page quotes