Prescription only
Liraglutide
Sold as Victoza, Saxenda, Xultophy 100/3.6.
What the label states
Two ceilings for one molecule, on two labels from the same manufacturer. VICTOZA, for type 2 diabetes: “The recommended starting dosage of VICTOZA is 0.6 mg injected subcutaneously once daily for one week,” a dosage the label states “is not effective for glycemic control in adults”, then 1.2 mg daily, and “If additional glycemic control is required, increase the dosage to the maximum recommended dosage of 1.8 mg injected subcutaneously once daily after at least one week of treatment with the 1.2 mg once daily dosage.” SAXENDA, for weight management: a weekly escalation of 0.6 → 1.2 → 1.8 → 2.4 → 3 mg, where “For adults, the recommended dosage of SAXENDA is 3 mg daily, lower dosages are for titration only.” There is a third labelled use in which liraglutide has no milligram dose of its own: in XULTOPHY 100/3.6 it is dialled in insulin units, where “each XULTOPHY 100/3.6 dosage unit contains 1 unit of insulin degludec and 0.036 mg of liraglutide” and the maximum of 50 units delivers 1.8 mg of liraglutide.
Quoted from the approved product label. Clinics commonly prescribe differently — more frequent, smaller injections of the same weekly total are routine — and where this site describes that, it is named as practice rather than as labelling.
- Route
- Subcutaneous once daily, in the abdomen, thigh or upper arm, at any time of day and independently of meals.
- Vehicle
- A sterile aqueous solution at about pH 8.15. Each millilitre contains disodium phosphate dihydrate 1.42 mg, propylene glycol 14 mg, phenol 5.5 mg and water for injection. The phenol is a preservative, which is what allows a pen to be used for 30 days after it is first pierced.
- Usual barrel
- None — this compound is not drawn into a syringe
- Strengths covered
- No strength page yet
Why there is no syringe
Nothing to draw. Every FDA-approved liraglutide product — VICTOZA, SAXENDA, XULTOPHY and both generics we checked — is a 3 mL prefilled, single-patient-use dial pen. There is no vial, so there is no barrel, no gauge and no units answer. What is unusually stable is the concentration: 6 mg/mL in every standalone product, brand and generic alike, where tirzepatide and semaglutide change concentration with the presentation. If liraglutide ever were in a barrel, one mark on a U-100 syringe would be 0.06 mg (60 mcg) — arithmetic offered here to show why the pen’s fixed increments exist rather than as an instruction, since a 0.6 mg starting dose is 10 units and each labelled step is another 10 — the coarsest increments of any injectable on these pages, not the finest. The pen exists because it is the only approved presentation, not because the doses are hard to measure. The one product that breaks the 6 mg/mL rule is XULTOPHY, at 3.6 mg/mL, and there the pen is dialled in insulin units rather than milligrams at all.
Administration
- 1
Once daily, at any time, independent of meals
Unlike the weekly incretins, liraglutide is a daily injection and the label attaches no meal timing to it. Changing the injection site or the time of day needs no dosage adjustment.
- 2
Escalate weekly, on your own product’s ladder
Both brands start at 0.6 mg daily for one week, and then diverge: VICTOZA stops at 1.2 mg unless additional glycaemic control is needed, in which case 1.8 mg is the maximum; SAXENDA keeps going in weekly steps to 3 mg. Paediatric escalation on SAXENDA may take up to 8 weeks.
- 3
Inspect before each injection
“Only use if solution is clear, colorless, and contains no particles.”
- 4
Rotate within the same region
The labels give a specific reason: rotating sites within the same region reduces the risk of cutaneous amyloidosis — lumps of amyloid at repeatedly used sites, which can also make absorption unpredictable.
- 5
Never share a pen
A labelled warning in its own right on both brands, even if the needle is changed.
- 6
Remove and discard the needle after every injection
Store the pen with no needle attached. The labels tie this to three things at once: contamination, leakage and dosing accuracy.
- 7
If more than 3 days have passed, go back to the start
This is the rule most specific to a daily GLP-1, and it surprises people. Miss one dose and you simply take the next scheduled one — no extra dose, no doubling. But “If more than 3 days have elapsed since the last VICTOZA dose, reinitiate VICTOZA at 0.6 mg once daily,” and re-titrate from there. The gastrointestinal tolerance built up over weeks is lost in days.
Storage
- —Before first use: refrigerated at 2–8 °C (36–46 °F). Not in the freezer, not directly against the cooling element, and not to be used if it has been frozen.
- —After first use: “the pen can be stored for 30 days at controlled room temperature 59°F to 86°F (15°C to 30°C) or in a refrigerator 36°F to 46°F (2°C to 8°C).” The same 30-day figure applies to both brands.
- —Keep the cap on when not in use and protect the pen from excessive heat and sunlight.
- —Always use a new needle for each injection, and store the pen without a needle attached.
Monitoring
| Marker | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Symptoms of thyroid C-cell tumour | Throughout, by symptom | The boxed warning is stronger in one respect than semaglutide’s: liraglutide caused thyroid C-cell tumours “in both genders of rats and mice”, and the label notes that “Cases of MTC in patients treated with VICTOZA have been reported in the postmarketing period”, while adding that those reports are insufficient to establish or exclude causation. Contraindicated with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or with MEN 2. Routine calcitonin or ultrasound screening is described as of uncertain value. |
| Signs of acute pancreatitis | After initiation and throughout | Acute pancreatitis, including fatal and non-fatal haemorrhagic or necrotising forms, has been observed with GLP-1 receptor agonists including liraglutide; discontinue if suspected. |
| Renal function | When gastrointestinal effects are causing volume depletion | Same event-driven rule as the rest of the class: monitor renal function in patients reporting adverse reactions that could lead to volume depletion. |
| Blood glucose | Before starting and during treatment if you have type 2 diabetes — and around any insulin or sulfonylurea | SAXENDA directs that adults with type 2 diabetes monitor blood glucose before and during treatment. In paediatric patients aged 10 and over on VICTOZA, the label notes the hypoglycaemia risk was higher regardless of insulin or metformin use. |
| Weight or BMI response, on SAXENDA | 16 weeks after starting in adults; 12 weeks on the maintenance dose in paediatric patients | The label sets a stopping rule rather than leaving it open: discontinue if an adult has not lost at least 4% of baseline body weight at 16 weeks, or if a paediatric patient has not reduced BMI by at least 1% from baseline, “since it is unlikely that the patient will achieve and sustain clinically meaningful weight loss with continued treatment.” |
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a generic liraglutide?
- Yes, and liraglutide is the only molecule on these GLP-1 pages that has one. DailyMed lists liraglutide injection under the marketing category ANDA from several manufacturers — Teva under ANDA214568 and Hikma under ANDA215503 among them — alongside the Novo Nordisk brands. An ANDA is a generic approval: the product has been shown equivalent to the reference listed drug rather than approved on its own clinical programme. The generics we checked are the same presentation as the brands, a 6 mg/mL solution in a 3 mL prefilled single-patient-use pen. Semaglutide, tirzepatide and retatrutide have no US generics.
- What is the difference between Victoza and Saxenda?
- Same molecule, same concentration, same pen, same daily injection — different ceiling and different indication. VICTOZA is for type 2 diabetes and tops out at 1.8 mg daily, reached after at least a week each at 0.6 mg and 1.2 mg. SAXENDA is for weight management and keeps climbing weekly to 3 mg daily, with the label stating plainly that “lower dosages are for titration only”. SAXENDA also carries a stopping rule VICTOZA does not: discontinue at 16 weeks in adults if at least 4% of baseline body weight has not been lost.
- What happens if I stop liraglutide for a few days?
- You go back to the beginning of the ladder. This is the sharpest practical difference between a daily GLP-1 and a weekly one. A single missed dose is simple — resume the once-daily regimen with the next scheduled dose, and do not take an extra dose or increase the dose to make up for it. But the label states: “If more than 3 days have elapsed since the last VICTOZA dose, reinitiate VICTOZA at 0.6 mg once daily to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal adverse reactions associated with reinitiation of treatment,” and SAXENDA says the same with its own escalation table. A long weekend away from the fridge can cost you weeks of titration.
- How many units of liraglutide is my dose?
- For an approved product the question does not apply, because there is no vial and no barrel — every liraglutide product is a prefilled dial pen. The concentration is nevertheless the most stable of any molecule on these pages: 6 mg/mL, in the brands and in the generics alike. If that solution were in a U-100 barrel, one unit mark would be 0.06 mg or 60 mcg, and a 0.6 mg starting dose would be 10 units, with each labelled step another 10 on top — 0.1 mL apart, which is coarse rather than fine. The pen exists because it is the only presentation anyone has approved, not because the increments are difficult to read. The exception worth knowing is XULTOPHY, where liraglutide sits at 3.6 mg/mL and the pen is dialled in insulin units: 1 unit is 0.036 mg of liraglutide alongside 1 unit of insulin degludec.
- Can I take liraglutide weekly instead of daily?
- No. Liraglutide is a daily peptide and its labelled regimens are all once daily — there is no weekly liraglutide product and no labelled weekly dose to convert to. The weekly incretins are different molecules with different half-lives and their own labels. Stretching a daily drug to a weekly interval is not a dose change, it is a gap, and after three days the label itself directs restarting the titration from 0.6 mg.
Sources
- [1]FDA label — VICTOZA (liraglutide) injection, for subcutaneous use, Novo Nordisk. DailyMed SPL version 31, effective 2025-10-14, marketing category NDA (NDA022341)
- [2]FDA label — SAXENDA (liraglutide) injection, for subcutaneous use, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Industries, LP. DailyMed SPL version 22, effective 2026-02-25, marketing category NDA (NDA206321)
- [3]FDA label — XULTOPHY 100/3.6 (insulin degludec and liraglutide) injection, Novo Nordisk. DailyMed SPL version 14, effective 2025-10-14, marketing category BLA (BLA208583)
- [4]FDA label — LIRAGLUTIDE injection, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. DailyMed SPL version 4, effective 2026-02-27, marketing category ANDA (ANDA214568) — cited as evidence that approved generics exist
- [5]FDA label — LIRAGLUTIDE injection, Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. DailyMed SPL version 7, effective 2026-05-14, marketing category ANDA (ANDA215503)
Related
Educational reference, not medical advice. Dose, route and whether this compound is appropriate at all are decisions for your clinician.