Patients in the U.S. now have access to the first generic GLP-1 treatment approved for weight loss as Teva has launched its copycat of Novo Nordisk’s injected Saxenda (liraglutide).
The compound, which is a GLP-1 forerunner of Novo’s semaglutide products Ozempic and Wegovy, has been approved by the FDA to treat adults with obesity and those who are overweight and have weight-related medical problems.
Saxenda also is endorsed for pediatric patients ages 12 through 17 who are obese and weigh at least 60 kg (132 pounds). The treatment is for both triggering and maintaining weight loss.
Saxenda is not the first GLP-1 drug that is available as a generic. In June of last year, Teva also was the first company to launch a knockoff version of Novo’s Victoza, which is the same compound as Saxenda but has been approved only for patients with Type 2 diabetes.
Like Ozempic, many doctors have prescribed Victoza off-label for weight loss.
Teva has established a $1,165 wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) for a monthly dose of its Saxenda generic, a company spokesperson said. It is a slight reduction from the $1,350 WAC price of the branded treatment.
It's unclear what kind of demand Teva will see with its Saxenda generic. In its second-quarter earnings report, Teva did not reveal sales of its Victoza generic but did partially blame a 6% decline in U.S. generic revenues on declining sales of the product “driven primarily by increased competition.”
Sales of the branded versions of both Victoza and Saxenda have declined significantly in recent years as demand for Novo’s semaglutide and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide products have skyrocketed. In addition, marketers of compounded products have been aggressively competing for market share in the GLP-1 space.
Victoza sales, which peaked in 2018 at 24.32 billion Danish kroner ($3.7 billion), shrunk all the way down to 5.5 billion kroner ($862 million) last year. Meanwhile sales of Saxenda, which peaked at 10.7 billion kroner ($1.6 billion) in 2022, fell to roughly $300 million in the first half of this year.