Vol. 1 No. 9 (2021)
Reimbursement Recommendations

Liraglutide (Saxenda)

Published September 20, 2021

Key Messages

  • CADTH recommends that Saxenda should not be reimbursed by public drug plans for chronic weight management in adult patients.
  • Evidence from 3 studies demonstrated that Saxenda was associated with statistically significant reductions in body weight compared with placebo after 56 weeks of treatment.
  • No conclusions could be drawn about long-term benefits, particularly for clinically meaningful improvements in comorbidities identified as priorities by patients, such as diabetes, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and cardiovascular complications.
  • Patients identified a need for treatments that can improve potential obesity-related comorbidities, such as diabetes, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and cardiovascular complications. It is not clear whether Saxenda meets these needs.