Liraglutide
GLP-1 receptor agonist (97% homologous to native GLP-1)
- Class
- GLP-1 agonist
- Half-life
- ~13 hours
- Route
- Subcutaneous (SubQ)
- Cadence
- Daily
- Evidence
- Human clinical trials
Overview
It's been FDA-approved as Victoza since 2010 (for diabetes) and as Saxenda since 2014 (for weight management), giving it one of the longest real-world safety records in the GLP-1 class.
It works by hitting GLP-1 receptors in your pancreas, gut, and brain — slowing stomach emptying, suppressing appetite, and nudging insulin release when blood sugar is elevated. The daily injection schedule is both a feature and a friction point: some people like the tighter control (stop and the drug clears in 2-3 days), others find the daily ritual harder to sustain than a weekly shot.
Side effects are typical GLP-1 territory — nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea in the first few weeks, usually manageable if you titrate slowly. The black-box warning about thyroid C-cell tumours (based on rodent studies) is shared across the whole GLP-1 class, but nearly 15 years of human use hasn't shown a clear thyroid cancer signal. The main practical knock is that semaglutide works better for weight loss with fewer injections per week, so liraglutide is increasingly positioned as the fallback option when weekly drugs aren't tolerated or available.
Safety considerations
A few of the safety signals worth knowing — the full list, with dosing context and what to monitor, is inside AIx Core.
- Black-box warning for thyroid C-cell tumours based on rodent studies (benign and malignant C-cell adenomas/carcinomas at clinically relevant doses in rats and mice). Human relevance unclear — rodents have far more GLP-1 receptors on thyroid C-cells than humans. Nearly 15 years of post-marketing data hasn't shown a consistent thyroid cancer signal in humans, but liraglutide is contraindicated if you or a close family member has medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 2 (MEN-2).
- Acute pancreatitis — rare but real. In the SCALE obesity trials, 9 of 3,291 liraglutide users vs 1 of 1,843 placebo users developed confirmed pancreatitis. If you get severe upper abdominal pain radiating to your back, stop and get checked immediately.
- Gallbladder disease (gallstones, cholecystitis) is more common during rapid weight loss on any GLP-1 drug — not specific to liraglutide, just the territory. Incidence in trials was higher than placebo even after adjusting for weight loss, suggesting a possible drug effect beyond just rapid fat mobilisation.
+ 3 more safety notes inside AIx Core →
Commonly monitored
Markers and signals people track when researching Liraglutide.
- Body weight and waist circumference (track both — lean mass matters)
- HbA1c if you're using it for diabetes
- Lipid panel (modest improvements seen in trials)
- Resting heart rate (GLP-1s can nudge it up 2-5 bpm)
- Gallbladder symptoms — right upper quadrant pain, especially during rapid weight loss
- Calcitonin levels are NOT routinely recommended — monitoring hasn't been shown to reduce thyroid cancer risk and may lead to unnecessary thyroid surgeries
Frequently asked questions
What is Liraglutide?
GLP-1 receptor agonist (97% homologous to native GLP-1). It's been FDA-approved as Victoza since 2010 (for diabetes) and as Saxenda since 2014 (for weight management), giving it one of the longest real-world safety records in the GLP-1 class.
How is Liraglutide administered?
Subcutaneous (SubQ), typically daily.
What is the half-life of Liraglutide?
~13 hours — Allows once-daily dosing — shorter than weekly GLP-1s like semaglutide.
Is Liraglutide approved for human use?
Liraglutide is investigational — not approved by the FDA, EMA, or MHRA for human use at the time of writing.
What does the evidence show for Liraglutide?
Evidence tier: Human clinical trials. SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes (Pi-Sunyer 2015, N=3,731, 56 weeks): liraglutide 3.0 mg produced mean weight loss of 8.4 kg vs 2.8 kg for placebo. 63% of liraglutide users lost ≥5% body weight, 33% lost ≥10%.
What is commonly monitored when researching Liraglutide?
Commonly tracked markers + signals: Body weight and waist circumference (track both — lean mass matters), HbA1c if you're using it for diabetes, Lipid panel (modest improvements seen in trials), Resting heart rate (GLP-1s can nudge it up 2-5 bpm), Gallbladder symptoms — right upper quadrant pain, especially during rapid weight loss, Calcitonin levels are NOT routinely recommended — monitoring hasn't been shown to reduce thyroid cancer risk and may lead to unnecessary thyroid surgeries.
Related compounds
Open this in AIx Core for the full picture
Mechanism breakdown, receptor pathway diagram, full safety list, monitored items, source citations, and one-tap add-to-protocol. Free with any account.