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GLP-1s & incretins

Liraglutide

The older once-daily GLP-1 agonist, with long real-world follow-up and modest effect sizes.

L5Practice-changingApproved medicineApprovedHigh confidenceLast reviewed 2026-06-18
SC injection

Also known as: Victoza, Saxenda

Evidence passport

Last reviewed 2026-06-18

Evidence level
L5Practice-changing
Confidence
High confidence
Human efficacy
88/100
Human safety
92/100
Regulatory status
Approved medicine
Development
Approved
Routes
SC injection
Evidence base
Includes human data
Furthest stage
Approved
Source curation
Source curation pending
Clinical maturity
Approved, long post-marketing history

Overview

Human evidence88/100
Preclinical evidence85/100
Human safety evidence92/100

Clinical maturity: Approved, long post-marketing history

Routes & formulations

Studied / approved routes

SC injection

Approved products (Victoza, Saxenda) are once-daily subcutaneous injections.

Route availability is not evidence of efficacy, and evidence from one route does not transfer to another. The Registry never provides dosing or sourcing information.

Peptide lifecycle

  1. Discovery

  2. Preclinical

  3. Phase I

  4. Phase II

  5. Phase III

  6. Approved

Approved

What it is

A once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist, the earlier generation of this drug class.

What people claim

  • Weight loss
  • Glycaemic control
  • Cardiovascular benefit in defined populations

What the evidence actually says

Well evidenced, but generally less effective for weight than newer weekly agents. Its main present-day value is the depth of long-term safety experience.

Human evidence

  • Multiple randomised trials in diabetes and obesity.
  • Cardiovascular outcome trial data in higher-risk type 2 diabetes.
  • Years of post-marketing surveillance.

Preclinical evidence

  • Foundational incretin pharmacology in rodent models.

Animal and cell findings are Level 1–2 evidence.

Mechanism and pathways

  • GLP-1 receptor agonism with a shorter duration of action than weekly analogues.

Safety and unknowns

  • Common gastrointestinal effects.
  • Injection-site reactions more frequently reported than with some weekly agents.
  • The longest safety track record in the class.

Cancer relevance

Monitored in trials; not demonstrated in humans

Shares the rodent C-cell tumour precautionary labelling of the class. Long human exposure has not established a causal human cancer risk.

Regulatory status

Approved for type 2 diabetes and, in a separate formulation, weight management.

Evidence grade

L5Practice-changingHigh confidence

Replicated large randomised trials, pivotal Phase 3 programmes, or a major regulatory decision.

What would change our rating?

  • Pooled long-term registry analyses across the class.

References and sources

Source curation pending
  • To be curatedSources to be curated

Source hierarchy: regulatory documents and trial registries first, peer-reviewed work next, sponsor material flagged as non-independent. We never use supplier or clinic marketing as evidence, and where a verified source has not yet been curated we say so rather than inventing one.

Evidence change history

No recorded changes yet. Baseline position set on 2026-06-18.