{"id":68,"date":"2026-10-01T09:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T23:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/product\/saxenda\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:31:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:31:40","slug":"saxenda","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/product\/saxenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Saxenda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section id=\"overview\" data-nav=\"Overview\"><span class=\"kicker\">Overview<\/span><h2>What Saxenda is<\/h2><p>Saxenda contains liraglutide, a GLP\u20111 receptor agonist given as a once-daily injection under the skin. It is used for weight management together with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, in adults and, as set out in its product information, in adolescents aged 12 and over.<\/p><p>The dose is increased gradually. Suitability and dosing are decided by a prescriber on the basis of the approved product information.<\/p><\/section>\n<section id=\"how\" data-nav=\"How it works\"><span class=\"kicker\">How it works<\/span><h2>GLP\u20111, <em>once a day<\/em><\/h2><p>Liraglutide closely resembles human GLP\u20111, a gut hormone released after meals. It reduces appetite and increases feelings of fullness, and slows gastric emptying. Its half-life of about 13 hours is why it is injected once daily.<\/p><div class=\"mech\"><div><b>Brain<\/b><span>Less hunger, more fullness.<\/span><\/div><div><b>Gut and pancreas<\/b><span>Slower gastric emptying; glucose-dependent insulin release.<\/span><\/div><\/div><p>In the SCALE trial, adults without diabetes lost an average of 7.4% of body weight over 56 weeks with liraglutide 3.0 mg, against 3.0% with placebo.<sup><a href=\"#references\">1<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/section>\n<section id=\"safety\" data-nav=\"Safety\"><span class=\"kicker\">Safety<\/span><h2>Side effects and warnings<\/h2><p>The most commonly reported side effects are gastrointestinal:<\/p><ul class=\"bul\"><li>Nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, constipation and abdominal pain, mostly while the dose is being increased<\/li><li>Gallbladder problems, including gallstones<\/li><li>An increase in resting heart rate<\/li><li>Low blood sugar when used with other diabetes medicines<\/li><\/ul><div class=\"warn\"><svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-alert\"\/><\/svg><div><strong>Important<\/strong>Seek medical help promptly for severe, persistent abdominal pain, which may be a sign of pancreatitis. Not for use during pregnancy. Always read the patient information leaflet.<\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<section id=\"documents\" data-nav=\"Documents\"><span class=\"kicker\">Documents<\/span><h2>Product information<\/h2><div class=\"docs\"><a class=\"doc-row\" href=\"https:\/\/www.medicines.org.uk\/emc\/product\/2313\/pil\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"ico\"><svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-file\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span>Patient information leaflet<small>Saxenda pre-filled pen \u00b7 electronic medicines compendium<\/small><\/span><span class=\"end\">emc<span class=\"visually-hidden\"> (opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a><a class=\"doc-row\" href=\"https:\/\/www.medicines.org.uk\/emc\/product\/2313\/smpc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"ico\"><svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-file\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span>Summary of Product Characteristics<small>Saxenda pre-filled pen \u00b7 electronic medicines compendium<\/small><\/span><span class=\"end\">emc<span class=\"visually-hidden\"> (opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/section>\n<section id=\"faq\" data-nav=\"FAQ\"><span class=\"kicker\">FAQ<\/span><h2>Common questions<\/h2><div class=\"faq\" style=\"margin-top:18px\"><details open><summary>Do I need a prescription?<svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-plus\"\/><\/svg><\/summary><p>Saxenda is a prescription-only medicine. After your request, the partner pharmacy verifies whether and how supply is possible, for example through an existing prescription or an assessment by an independent doctor where permitted.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>How is it different from Wegovy?<svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-plus\"\/><\/svg><\/summary><p>Saxenda contains liraglutide and is injected once a day; Wegovy contains semaglutide and is injected once a week. In the STEP 8 trial, semaglutide produced greater weight loss than liraglutide.<sup><a href=\"#references\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/details><details><summary>What if I do not lose enough weight?<svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-plus\"\/><\/svg><\/summary><p>The product information sets a review point for adults: if at least 5% of initial body weight has not been lost after 12 weeks on the full daily dose, treatment should be stopped.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>Why is the dose increased gradually?<svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-plus\"\/><\/svg><\/summary><p>Starting low and increasing step by step helps to reduce gastrointestinal side effects. The schedule is set out in the product information and is decided by the prescriber.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>Do I pay when I send a request?<svg class=\"icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use href=\"#i-plus\"\/><\/svg><\/summary><p>No. Payment is arranged individually with customer service once your request has been reviewed and can proceed.<\/p><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n<section id=\"references\" data-nav=\"References\"><span class=\"kicker\">References<\/span><h2>Sources<\/h2><ol class=\"refs\"><li><span>Pi-Sunyer X, et al. A randomized, controlled trial of 3.0 mg of liraglutide in weight management (SCALE). <i>N Engl J Med<\/i>. 2015;373:11\u201322.<\/span><\/li><li><span>Rubino DM, et al. Effect of weekly subcutaneous semaglutide vs daily liraglutide on body weight in adults with overweight or obesity without diabetes: the STEP 8 randomized clinical trial. <i>JAMA<\/i>. 2022;327:138\u2013150.<\/span><\/li><li><span>Saxenda: Summary of Product Characteristics. Novo Nordisk.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A once-daily GLP\u20111 receptor agonist injection used for weight management, as set out in its product information.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nm-research-disclaimer\">For research use only. Not intended for human or animal consumption, nor for medical, personal or diagnostic use. By purchasing this product, you confirm that you are qualified to handle research materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[35,32,23],"product_tag":[41],"nm_classification":[],"class_list":["post-68","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-hormones-weight-body-composition","product_cat-peptides","product_cat-weight-management-metabolism","product_tag-prescription","first","instock","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-variable"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"nm_classification","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novameds.health\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nm_classification?post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}