Peptide Graded

Liraglutide

Does Liraglutide work?

Yes, in large controlled trials of 9,340 and 3,731 people.

AStrong human evidenceFDA approvedas of 2026-10-27

Both uses rest on large randomized placebo-controlled trials: LEADER (9,340 patients with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular outcomes) and the SCALE obesity trial (3,731 adults, 56 weeks of weight loss). Multiple other phase 3 trials sit behind the labels. What the citations do not cover is how liraglutide compares with the newer weekly GLP-1 drugs, which outperform it on weight. 46

LEADER randomized 9,340 adults with type 2 diabetes at high heart risk to liraglutide or placebo. It followed them for a median of 3.8 years. Heart death, heart attack or stroke occurred in 13.0 percent on liraglutide and 14.9 percent on placebo. That is a 13 percent relative cut. Heart death alone fell 22 percent. This trial is the basis for the heart-risk approved use. 4

The SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes trial randomized 3,731 adults without diabetes to liraglutide or placebo for 56 weeks, with lifestyle coaching. Average weight loss was 8.0 percent on liraglutide and 2.6 percent on placebo. In all, 63 percent versus 27 percent lost at least 5 percent of their weight. 6

Evidence checklist

  • Randomised controlled trial LEADER and SCALE, placebo-controlled
  • Human study over 100 people LEADER 9,340; SCALE 3,731
  • More than one research group Multiple phase 3 trials behind both labels
  • Clinical outcomes, not surrogate markers LEADER: fewer heart attacks, strokes, deaths
  • Human safety data beyond case reports Years of trial data; boxed thyroid warning

Read the full Liraglutide page

More on Liraglutide

Citations

  1. FDA 2025: Victoza (liraglutide) prescribing information accessdata.fda.gov
  2. Drugs.com: Liraglutide monograph and generic availability drugs.com
  3. 2025, Pharmacological Research: Review of liraglutide development and pharmacology sciencedirect.com
  4. Marso 2016, NEJM: Liraglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes (LEADER) doi.org
  5. FDA 2025: Saxenda (liraglutide) prescribing information accessdata.fda.gov
  6. Pi-Sunyer 2015, NEJM: A randomized controlled trial of liraglutide for weight management (SCALE) doi.org
  7. Caballero-Corbalán 2026, Diabetes Obes Metab: liraglutide and beta-cell function in long-standing type 1 diabetes, blinded randomized trial pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the Liraglutide article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.