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Compound Evidence InstituteEvidence synthesis · established 2023Graded assessments of compounds, trials, methods and supply
Document set current to 30 July 2026
Compound monograph · §4

Liraglutide — safety

Adverse events as reported, contraindications, warnings, and an explicit statement of what the safety evidence does not establish.

Document identifier
CEI-MN-007/4
Series
Compound monograph
Version
3.3
Published
27 Nov 2023
Last reviewed
27 Aug 2024
Next review
27 Aug 2026
Identifier
10.71829/cei.mono.7
Certainty
High
Cycle
2023 Q4

§4Safety

§4.1Adverse events reported in controlled trials

Table 4. Adverse events for Liraglutide as reported in the trial safety tables the Institute holds. Percentages are of randomised participants in the stated trial and arm.

EventActive, %Comparator, %Difference, ppSource
Nausea39.313.8+25.5SCALE Obesity (3.0 mg, 56 weeks)
Diarrhoea20.99.3+11.6SCALE Obesity
Constipation19.48.5+10.9SCALE Obesity
Vomiting15.73.9+11.8SCALE Obesity
Headache13.612.6+1.0SCALE Obesity
Cholelithiasis1.50.5+1.0SCALE Obesity
Acute pancreatitis0.30.1+0.2SCALE programme pooled
Discontinuation for adverse events9.93.8+6.1SCALE Obesity
Injection-site reaction13.910.5+3.4SCALE Obesity
A difference column is computed by the Institute from the two reported percentages and is not itself a published figure. Confidence intervals for adverse-event differences are not reported in the contributing trials and are not constructed here.
Gastrointestinal adverse eventsProportion of participants reaching each categorical response threshold, by arm.EventActiveComparatorNausea39.3 %13.8 %Diarrhoea20.9 %9.3 %Constipation19.4 %8.5 %Vomiting15.7 %3.9 %
Figure 4. Gastrointestinal adverse events for Liraglutide as reported in the contributing safety tables. Incidences of this kind are dose- and titration-rate-dependent and attenuate with continued exposure in most but not all participants.

§4.2Contraindications

  • Personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma
  • Multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2
  • Known hypersensitivity
  • Pregnancy

§4.3Warnings and precautions

  • Boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumours
  • Acute pancreatitis
  • Acute gallbladder disease
  • Hypoglycaemia with insulin or secretagogues
  • Renal impairment secondary to volume depletion
  • Suicidal ideation reported in the SCALE programme at low incidence and monitored in post-marketing surveillance

§4.4What this section does not establish

Related assessments: tolerability of incretin receptor agonists · acute pancreatitis · the rodent thyroid C-cell signal.[1,2]

References cited on this page

References are numbered in order of first citation in this document. Each superscript in the text links to its entry below.

  1. Pi-Sunyer X, Astrup A, Fujioka K, Greenway F, Halpern A, Krempf M, Lau DCW, le Roux CW, Violante Ortiz R, Jensen CB, Wilding JPH. A randomized, controlled trial of 3.0 mg of liraglutide in weight management. New England Journal of Medicine 2015;373(1):11–22. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1411892 · PMID 26132939
  2. Marso SP, Daniels GH, Brown-Frandsen K, Kristensen P, Mann JFE, Nauck MA, Nissen SE, Pocock S, Poulter NR, Ravn LS, Steinberg WM, Stockner M, Zinman B, Bergenstal RM, Buse JB. Liraglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine 2016;375(4):311–322. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1603827 · PMID 27295427

Identifiers are reproduced only where the Institute holds them. Where a digital object identifier or PubMed identifier is not shown, the Institute has recorded the journal and year and has not constructed an identifier.

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