Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. Wegovy vs Saxenda

Wegovy vs Saxenda

Novo Nordisk makes both. Wegovy is the newer one, injected weekly. Saxenda is injected daily. When a trial compared them, Wegovy more than doubled Saxenda's weight loss.

By , Penzilla Editorial Team. Last reviewed 8 October 2026.

STEP 8 in brief

338 adults, 68 weeks. Weekly semaglutide 2.4mg (Wegovy): 15.8% average weight loss. Daily liraglutide 3mg (Saxenda): 6.4%. On Wegovy, 71 in 100 reached a 10% loss. On Saxenda, 26 in 100 did.

Daily life

Saxenda asks for an injection every day, 365 a year. Wegovy asks for 52. Wegovy takes 16 weeks to reach full dose. Saxenda takes five.

Stop rules

Saxenda's licence has a firm check: less than 5% lost after 12 weeks on 3mg means stop.

Price

Wegovy first orders run from £44 for 0.25mg to £113 for 2.4mg. Penzilla does not track Saxenda prices. Cheapest Wegovy.

Side effects

Same medicine family, same main effects. Liraglutide side effects. Semaglutide side effects.

Changing from Saxenda

A prescriber sets your Wegovy starting dose. Give the pharmacy your Saxenda dose and the date of your last injection. Never overlap the two.

Questions people ask

Does Wegovy work better than Saxenda?

In STEP 8, yes: 15.8% against 6.4% average weight loss.

How many people lose 10% on Wegovy?

71 in 100 in the STEP 8 trial.

Is Saxenda still prescribed?

Yes, though most UK private prescribing has moved to weekly pens.

Can I use both?

No.

Sources

  1. Rubino DM and colleagues, STEP 8, JAMA, 2022
  2. Pi-Sunyer X and colleagues, SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, New England Journal of Medicine, 2015
  3. Novo Nordisk, Saxenda Summary of Product Characteristics (electronic medicines compendium)
  4. Novo Nordisk, Wegovy Summary of Product Characteristics (electronic medicines compendium)
Wegovy vs Saxenda, Penzilla