Too expensive?
An obesity researcher who was not involved in the study noted that liraglutide is not yet reimbursed for weight loss, and has an adverse event profile that may discourage some patients from remaining on the drug.
“I think that for those people who can tolerate the medication and who can afford it, it’s better than placebo. If you can have access to medication it’s great, but a lot of people are not able to stick to it for any duration of time, and that’s the downside of it. If you don’t stick to it, the weight comes back,” Dr. Ranjan Sudan, a surgeon at Duke University, Durham, N.C., and chair of the ASMBS Research Committee, said in an interview.
“If this medication, for instance, could show that down the road it prevented or prolonged the onset of diabetes, that would be a whole different thing, and there may be some justification for its use. But for the moment, being primarily for weight loss purposes and not to treat comorbidities makes it a little bit of a hard sell,” he said.
If approved, liraglutide 3 mg will be marketed as Saxenda. Liraglutide 1.8 mg was approved in 2010 and is marketed as Victoza.
The studies were supported by Novo Nordisk. Dr. Greenway and Dr. Kushner disclosed serving on the company’s advisory board. Dr. Fujioka disclosed receiving research support and consulting with the company.
