Liraglutide Facilitates Weight Reduction in Nondiabetic Patients

Liraglutide (Victoza), a glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue, was approved several years ago for treating patients with type 2 diabetes. Because liraglutide promotes weight reduction, the FDA approved it for this indication in nondiabetic patients in December 2014 (branded as Saxenda for weight loss). Industry-supported researchers now have published the principal study that supported FDA approval for weight loss.

This randomized trial involved 3731 nondiabetic patients with body-mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m²; patients with dyslipidemia or hypertension were eligible if BMI was ≥27 kg/m². In addition to receiving counseling on lifestyle modification, patients received either liraglutide (3 mg daily) or placebo, injected subcutaneously (the weight-r…