Liraglutide — Clinical Evidence
All published trials referenced on this site. Click any source link to read the original journal article.
Last reviewed: March 2026
Randomised controlled trials
In the following trials, participants were randomly assigned to Liraglutide or a dummy pill (placebo). All weight loss figures are average body weight reductions from baseline.
| Trial | Key result | Source |
|---|---|---|
| [1]SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes | 8.0% mean weight loss vs. 2.6% placebo. 63.2% achieved ≥5% loss vs. 27.1% placebo. | New England Journal of Medicine 2015 ↗ |
| [2]SCALE Diabetes | 6.0% mean weight loss at 3.0 mg — lower than in non-diabetic participants, consistent with GLP-1 class behaviour. | JAMA 2015 ↗ |
| [3]Network meta-analysis (comparative efficacy) | About 5.4% more weight loss than placebo — less than semaglutide or tirzepatide in indirect comparisons. | PMC 2023 ↗ |
Reported side effects
Frequencies from SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes. View source ↗
| Side effect | Frequency in trial |
|---|---|
| Nausea | 40% |
| Diarrhoea | 21% |
| Constipation | 19% |
| Vomiting | 16% |
Body composition data
No large body composition substudy has been published for liraglutide specifically for obesity. The lean mass loss profile is assumed similar to other GLP-1 drugs — proportional to total weight lost.
Cardiovascular & metabolic data
The LEADER trial (type 2 diabetes) showed cardiovascular benefit. In the obesity indication (SCALE trials), metabolic improvements including blood pressure and lipid reduction were observed, but no dedicated CV outcomes trial has been completed for the obesity indication.