Victoza yields substantial weight loss in diabetic patients, study finds

COPENHAGEN A drug developed for Type 2 diabetes provides greater weight loss than a popular weight-loss drug already on the market, according to a study published online in The Lancet.

Led by nutrition professor Arne Astrup, researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark analyzed 564 patients at 19 sites in Europe who received Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Victoza (liraglutide) in a 1.2-mg, 1.8-mg, 2.4-mg or 3-mg dose; GlaxoSmithKline’s weight-loss drug Alli (orlistat) in a 120-mg dose; or placebo three times a day.

Patients taking Victoza lost between 4.8-kg and 7.2-kg, compared with 4.1-kg among those taking Alli and 2.8-kg among those taking placebo.

“Treatment with liraglutide, in addition to an energy-deficit diet and exercise program, led to a sustained, clinically relevant, dose-dependent weight loss that was significantly greater than that with placebo and orlistat,” the authors wrote. 

Victoza has been approved in Europe, though the Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve it for the United States.