Two approved generic GLP-1s exist, and both are liraglutide
A generic referencing Victoza was approved in December 2024 and one referencing Saxenda in August 2025. It is the cheapest approved route and the least effective.
Liraglutide is the only GLP-1 with FDA-approved generics on the US market. That makes it the cheapest approved option, and the reason is patent timing rather than clinical merit.
In STEP-8, the only trial comparing them directly, daily liraglutide produced roughly 6.4% mean weight loss against approximately 15.8% for weekly semaglutide over 68 weeks — and seven injections a week instead of one.
The cheapest approved option is consistently the least effective one, and that is a predictable consequence of how patents expire. Analysis: liraglutide generics.
Filed by the Transparent Peptide research desk. Corrections: the corrections log.