Victoza is liraglutide, a once-daily GLP-1 injection for type 2 diabetes, made by Novo Nordisk and approved by FDA on 25 January 2010. It is approved for blood-sugar control in adults and children from age 10 and for cutting cardiovascular risk in adults with established heart disease. It is not approved for weight loss — its own trials show modest weight change — and since December 2024 FDA has approved eight generic copies rated as equivalent to it.
This page is built from documents read on 9 October 2026: the Victoza prescribing information (Novo Nordisk, DailyMed, effective 14 October 2025), FDA's Drugs@FDA and Orange Book records, and FDA's drug shortage database. It reports what they state; it does not suggest a medicine or a dose for anyone.
What the label approves
| Indication | Population | Trial behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Glycaemic control, with diet and exercise | Adults, and children aged 10 and older, with type 2 diabetes | Adult glycaemic trials; a 26-week paediatric trial of 134 patients (NCT01541215) |
| Reducing major cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack, non-fatal stroke) | Adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease | LEADER (NCT01179048) |
The label's one limitation of use is that Victoza should not be combined with other liraglutide-containing products. That covers Saxenda and the generics, and also Xultophy, Novo's fixed combination of insulin degludec with liraglutide, which FDA approved in November 2016 under its own application (BLA 208583).
LEADER, the trial behind the heart indication
LEADER randomised 9,340 adults with type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or older adults with other risk factors, to Victoza 1.8 mg or placebo on top of their usual care, for a median of 3.5 years. The label reports:
- First major cardiovascular event: hazard ratio 0.87 (95% CI 0.78 to 0.97) — a 13% lower relative rate on Victoza.
- Death from any cause: 828 deaths in the trial; hazard ratio 0.85 (0.74 to 0.97).
A hazard ratio is a relative measure. LEADER ran before SGLT2 inhibitors were in wide use, and the label notes that DPP-4 inhibitors and other GLP-1 drugs were excluded by protocol — background treatment today looks different from the trial's.
What Victoza's trials measured on weight
Weight is a secondary result in the adult glycaemic trials. The label prints starting weight and change in kilograms; the percentages are glp1ledger's arithmetic from those figures.
| Trial (label table) | Weeks | Victoza 1.8 mg | Victoza 1.2 mg | Comparator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alone, vs glimepiride (Table 3) | 52 | -2.5 kg (-2.7%) | -2.1 kg (-2.3%) | glimepiride +1.1 kg |
| Added to metformin (Table 4) | 26 | -2.8 kg (-3.2%) | -2.6 kg (-2.9%) | placebo -1.5 kg · glimepiride +1.0 kg |
| Added to glimepiride (Table 7) | 26 | -0.2 kg (-0.2%) | +0.3 kg (+0.4%) | placebo -0.1 kg · rosiglitazone +2.1 kg |
| Added to metformin + glimepiride (Table 8) | 26 | -1.8 kg (-2.1%) | — | placebo -0.4 kg · insulin glargine +1.6 kg |
| Added to metformin + rosiglitazone (Table 10) | 26 | -2.0 kg (-2.1%) | -1.0 kg (-1.0%) | placebo +0.6 kg |
The largest mean loss anywhere in the label is 2.8 kg, about 6 pounds. In the trial where Victoza was added to a sulfonylurea, weight barely moved. That is why searches for "Victoza for weight loss" lead to a different product: the same molecule at a higher daily maintenance dose is approved for weight management as Saxenda, whose trials and generics are set out on its own page. How liraglutide compares with weekly semaglutide head to head is on semaglutide vs liraglutide.
The side-effect table
The label pools five placebo-controlled adult trials (1,673 adults on Victoza, mean exposure 37.3 weeks). Reactions reported in at least 5% of people on Victoza and more often than on placebo:
| Reaction | Placebo (n=661) | 1.2 mg (n=645) | 1.8 mg (n=1,024) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nausea | 5% | 18% | 20% |
| Diarrhoea | 4% | 10% | 12% |
| Headache | 7% | 11% | 10% |
| Nasopharyngitis | 8% | 9% | 10% |
| Vomiting | 2% | 6% | 9% |
| Decreased appetite | 1% | 10% | 9% |
| Dyspepsia | 1% | 4% | 7% |
| Upper respiratory tract infection | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| Constipation | 1% | 5% | 5% |
| Back pain | 3% | 4% | 5% |
Low blood sugar depends on what Victoza is combined with: in the 26-week add-on trials, self-treated episodes ran from 3.6% with metformin to 27.4% with metformin plus glimepiride (against 16.7% on placebo in that trial). The label's warnings cover thyroid C-cell tumours seen in rodents (a boxed warning), pancreatitis, low blood sugar with insulin or sulfonylureas, kidney injury from dehydration, severe gastrointestinal reactions, hypersensitivity, gallbladder disease and pulmonary aspiration under anaesthesia. How long common reactions tend to last is on how long GLP-1 side effects last.
The pen
Victoza comes in one strength: a prefilled 3 mL pen holding 18 mg of liraglutide (6 mg/mL), which delivers doses of 0.6 mg, 1.2 mg or 1.8 mg, sold in packs of two or three pens. It is injected once a day — the practical difference from the weekly drugs in the GLP-1 class. Dose schedules are not covered on this site.
Eight generics rated equivalent to Victoza
FDA's Orange Book rates a generic AP1 when it is therapeutically equivalent to Victoza specifically (Saxenda's equivalents carry AP2: both brands are listed at the same 18 mg/3 mL strength, so the code says which one a generic matches). FDA's Drugs@FDA records, read on 9 October 2026, list eight:
| Maker | Approved |
|---|---|
| Hikma | 23 Dec 2024 |
| Nanjing King Friend | 2 Apr 2025 |
| Lupin | 22 Jul 2025 |
| Orbicular | 14 Jan 2026 |
| Biocon | 11 Mar 2026 |
| Fresenius Kabi | 30 Mar 2026 |
| Mylan Institutional | 15 Jun 2026 |
| Sandoz | 1 Jul 2026 |
An approval is not a launch: the Orange Book does not record which of these are on pharmacy shelves. The shortage database below lists stock reports for only some of them.
The shortage record
FDA's drug shortage database has carried liraglutide since 18 July 2023. As read on 9 October 2026:
- Victoza two-pen and three-pen packs: "Current", Limited Availability, estimated duration "TBD", updated 22 September 2026.
- Liraglutide made by Novo Nordisk and distributed by Teva: "Available", updated 22 September 2026.
- Hikma and Meitheal liraglutide: "Available".
- Saxenda: a separate "To Be Discontinued" entry — available until discontinuation in January 2027.
- Teva liraglutide (NDC 0480-7250-46, Teva's own label rather than the Novo-made product above): "To Be Discontinued", posted 14 May 2026, "discontinuation of the manufacture of the drug".
Neither discontinuation notice names Victoza.
Price and savings
Novo Nordisk's pricing page could not be read when this page was prepared, so no list price is given here; this page will add one once it can be dated from the maker's own document. How Novo's savings offers work for its weekly drugs is on the Ozempic savings card and NovoCare Pharmacy.
Victoza in the class
Victoza predates the weekly drugs now prescribed for the same disease — Trulicity (dulaglutide), Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) — and, like each of them, carries a cardiovascular indication. What it does not have is a weekly schedule or, in its own trials, the weight change recorded for the newer molecules. Whether it suits a particular person is a decision for a prescriber.
Sources
- VICTOZA (liraglutide) prescribing information, Novo Nordisk, DailyMed set ID 5a9ef4ea-c76a-4d34-a604-27c5b505f5a4, effective 2025-10-14, read 2026-10-09: sections 1, 3, 5, 6.1 (Tables 1–2), 14.1 (Tables 3–10), 14.2, 14.3 and 16.
- Drugs@FDA records for NDA 022341 (Victoza, original approval 2010-01-25) and BLA 208583 (Xultophy, 2016-11-21), via openFDA.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Drugs@FDA application records for liraglutide, with each product's Orange Book therapeutic-equivalence code, via openFDA, read 2026-10-09.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, drug shortage database, liraglutide entries, via openFDA, read 2026-10-09.
- LEADER, NCT01179048; paediatric trial, NCT01541215 — as reported in the Victoza label.