What happens if you stop Saxenda or Wegovy?

Wegovy's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Saxenda's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Wegovy's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 6.9% of body weight over the following 11 months while those who carried on lost 7.9% more. That figure belongs to Wegovy's trial, so this page does not apply it to Saxenda.

Is Saxenda or Wegovy better for weight loss?

Their molecules have been tested against each other. STEP 8 randomized 338 adults with overweight or obesity and without diabetes to weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg, daily liraglutide 3.0 mg or placebo for 68 weeks. Weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide against 6.4% on liraglutide. (Rubino et al., JAMA 2022.) The 7.4% and 14.9% quoted for Saxenda and Wegovy on this page are each drug's own label trial, not this comparison. A trial answers for the doses and the people it enrolled, not for one reader.

Which is cheaper, Saxenda or Wegovy?

Saxenda publishes no all-in monthly price that could be verified, so this page carries no comparison rather than an estimate — and an unpublished price is itself worth weighing.

Can you switch between Saxenda and Wegovy?

They are different molecules, so this is a change of medication rather than of brand, and the one you move to is started on its own dosing schedule.

← All providers and medications

Saxenda (liraglutide) vs Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

Verdict

Neither comes out ahead on the axes compared here. Wegovy scores higher on the published halfrx formula, 6.9 against 4.2; the formula takes in more than this table does.

Computed from the stored fields, so it moves when a price does. Nothing here is written by hand or by a model.

Wegovy (semaglutide injection) or Saxenda (liraglutide): which one has a price?

Only Wegovy (semaglutide injection) has an all-in figure here: $199–$399 a month, read from its own page on 2026-09-22. Saxenda (liraglutide) has none, so price cannot decide between them. Label-trial weight loss was 7.4% against 14.9%, from separate trials; the molecules were compared directly in STEP 8, where weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide 2.4 mg against 6.4% on liraglutide 3.0 mg over 68 weeks. Every axis below is computed from stored fields rather than written by hand, so the comparison moves when a price does. Neither carries an FTC action, a state action, a BBB F grade or an FDA warning letter. The published formula scores them 4.2 and 6.9 out of 10, arithmetic over the same stored fields rather than an editor's preference.

Head to head

Saxenda (liraglutide) against Wegovy (semaglutide injection), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Saxenda price unverified	Wegovy $199–$399/mo
Entry priceNot comparable — Saxenda (liraglutide) publishes no verified all-in price.	not comparable	not comparable
Regulatory and complaint riskNeither carries a lawsuit, an FDA warning letter or a supply-risk flag.	tied	tied
Average weight loss in trialsSaxenda (liraglutide) reports 7.4% and Wegovy (semaglutide injection) 14.9%, each from its own label trial, so the higher number is not by itself a better result. The trial that did compare the molecules is STEP 8 (weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide 2.4 mg against 6.4% on liraglutide 3.0 mg over 68 weeks).	not comparable	not comparable

What the trials, the titration and a year actually say

Axis	Saxenda	Wegovy
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	7.4%	14.9%
The trial that figure comes from	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.	STEP 1, Study 2 on the label (NCT03548935), 68 weeks: 14.9% mean weight loss at 2.4 mg against 2.4% on placebo, intention-to-treat.
Maintenance dose	3 mg daily	2.4 mg once weekly, or 1.7 mg
Earliest week you reach it	week 5	week 17
Year one at the published price of every step	No titration prices recorded	$4,237

Trial percentages are quoted from the label or the named trial beside them. They are not a head-to-head result: different populations, different durations, different endpoints. That is why the comparison above scores this axis as not comparable rather than awarding it to the higher number. The molecules themselves were compared directly in STEP 8; the result is in the answers below. The year-one figures walk each titration step at its published price and count the thirteen fills a 28-day month bills. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Saxenda ↗Go to Wegovy ↗

What separates these two, price aside

These are different molecules — liraglutide against semaglutide — so this is a comparison of two treatments, not of two prices for one.

Novo Nordisk

Saxenda (liraglutide)

4.2

Price unverified

Weaker moleculeBoxed warning

Novo Nordisk

Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

6.9

$199–$399/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-22

Boxed warning

Saxenda (liraglutide)

Pros

+Longest safety record of any GLP-1 approved for weight, on the market since 2014.[1]
+Generic liraglutide has been sold in the US since Teva launched generic Saxenda on 28 August 2025, so a branded Saxenda price is no longer the only liraglutide price.[3]
+Approved for adolescents aged 12 and over, as Wegovy and Qsymia are; Zepbound is for adults only.[1]

Cons

−7.4% mean weight loss on its label's trial — half of Wegovy and about a third of Zepbound.[1]
−Daily injection rather than weekly. Seven times the injections for a worse result.[1]
−No seller on this site offers branded Saxenda at a published cash price; Wegovy is $349 a month direct from NovoCare, for about twice the trial weight loss.[1]

Sources

Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

Pros

+One flat $349 across every standard dose from 0.25 to 2.4 mg — no dose-escalation penalty and no refill deadline attached, unlike Lilly's conditional pricing on Zepbound.[1]
+New patients pay $199 for the first two fills through 31 December 2026 — the first two of the four titration months.[2]
+Approved for cardiovascular risk reduction, not only weight — the strongest insurance-coverage argument in the category.[1]
+The longest real-world safety record of any modern weight-loss GLP-1.[1]
+Commercially insured, the savings card can bring it to $25 a month, capped at $100 of savings per month.[2]

Cons

−$1,349 monthly list price without insurance or the self-pay program.[1]
−Weaker than tirzepatide where the two were tested head to head: in SURMOUNT-5, weight fell 13.7% on semaglutide against 20.2% on tirzepatide over 72 weeks.[6]
−A month is one box of four weekly pens, so a year takes 13 boxes, not 12: $4,537 at $349 rather than the $4,188 that 'per month' implies.[1]
−The new high dose, Wegovy HD 7.2 mg, sits outside the flat price at $399.[1]
−Weekly injection, refrigerated storage, GI side effects during titration, and weight regain after stopping is the documented norm.[3]

Sources

Saxenda side effects →Wegovy side effects →Saxenda dosage →Wegovy dosage →

Comparisons are computed from the fields on each card, not written by hand or by a model, so they change when the data does. Information only, not medical advice. halfrx may earn a commission from some links, which never changes what a comparison says.

Everything on Saxenda

Everything on Wegovy

Saxenda against Wegovy, answered

What happens if you stop Saxenda or Wegovy?: Wegovy's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Saxenda's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Wegovy's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 6.9% of body weight over the following 11 months while those who carried on lost 7.9% more. That figure belongs to Wegovy's trial, so this page does not apply it to Saxenda.
Is Saxenda or Wegovy better for weight loss?: Their molecules have been tested against each other. STEP 8 randomized 338 adults with overweight or obesity and without diabetes to weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg, daily liraglutide 3.0 mg or placebo for 68 weeks. Weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide against 6.4% on liraglutide. (Rubino et al., JAMA 2022.) The 7.4% and 14.9% quoted for Saxenda and Wegovy on this page are each drug's own label trial, not this comparison. A trial answers for the doses and the people it enrolled, not for one reader.
Which is cheaper, Saxenda or Wegovy?: Saxenda publishes no all-in monthly price that could be verified, so this page carries no comparison rather than an estimate — and an unpublished price is itself worth weighing.
Can you switch between Saxenda and Wegovy?: They are different molecules, so this is a change of medication rather than of brand, and the one you move to is started on its own dosing schedule.