Teva launches authorized generic of Victoza for diabetes type 2 treatment in US

USA — Teva Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. affiliate of Israel’s multinational Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., specializing in generic drugs, has launched a generic version of Victoza (liraglutide injection 1.8mg) in the United States. 

This new drug is a generic version of Novo Nordisk’s Victoza, which is used to treat patients with type 2 diabetes.  

The launch of Teva’s generic version of Victoza comes just days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tentatively approved London-based Hikma Pharmaceuticals’ generic version of Victoza. 

This launch now makes Teva the first to offer a generic GLP-1 drug in the United States, where the drug class has seen overwhelming demand.  

Ernie Richardsen, SVP and Head of U.S. Commercial Generics at Teva, stated that this introduction strengthens Teva’s diverse complex generics portfolio, demonstrating their ability to sustain a generics powerhouse. 

GLP-1 drugs, originally approved to treat diabetes, are also prescribed for obesity. 

 According to Teva, liraglutide is an injectable prescription medicine used along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar (glucose) in adults and children who are 10 years of age and older with type 2 diabetes mellitus.  

Additionally, the injection is used to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus with known heart disease. 

Liraglutide injection 1.8mg is not for use in people with type 1 diabetes and should not be used with other medicines that contain liraglutide.  

The company further notes that it is not known if liraglutide injection is safe and effective to lower blood sugar (glucose) in children under 10 years of age. 

The growing popularity of GLP-1 drugs, such as Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Danish drugmaker Novo’s Wegovy, has resulted in intermittent shortages over the past year. Consequently, drugmakers are racing to increase supply.  

However, demand for Victoza, a first-generation GLP-1, has been on the decline with the loss of patent protection last year.  

Patients are increasingly moving towards once-weekly and tablet-based treatments, according to Novo. 

Victoza, chemically known as liraglutide, is a once-daily injection approved for use in adults and children aged 10 or older with type 2 diabetes.  

Despite the decline in demand, the drug brought in annual sales of $1.66 billion as of April 2024, according to Teva. 

 This figure underscores the significant market presence Victoza still maintains even as newer GLP-1 treatments become more popular. 

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