How much is Saxenda in the UAE?
Saxenda (liraglutide) costs AED 1,198.50 for a pack of 5 pens in the UAE, on Abu Dhabi’s official drug list from 2 October 2026. Each pen holds 18 mg, so a pack lasts 30 days at the full 3 mg daily dose. A year at that dose is about AED 14,542. Most people pay themselves.
- GLP‑1 medicines are prescription-only in the UAE and should only be used under medical supervision.1
- Prices here are official prices to the public, from Abu Dhabi’s drug list. We don’t name, link or rank sellers, and nothing here is for sale.
- Nothing here promises any result. The risks are in Guide 5: Side effects and risks.
How long does a pack of Saxenda last?
A pack of 5 pens holds 90 mg of liraglutide, which lasts 30 days at the full 3 mg daily dose and longer on the lower starting doses.2,3
| Daily dose | Days one pack lasts |
|---|---|
| 0.6 mg (week 1) | 150 days |
| 1.2 mg (week 2) | 75 days |
| 1.8 mg (week 3) | 50 days |
| 2.4 mg (week 4) | 37.5 days |
| 3.0 mg (from week 5) | 30 days |
Our arithmetic: 5 pens × 18 mg = 90 mg, divided by the daily dose. Dose steps from the EU label.3
The price is the same whatever your dose, because you pay for the pens. A year at 3 mg comes to about AED 14,542, or about AED 1,212 a month, by our arithmetic.2
Does insurance pay for Saxenda?
Rarely. Saxenda is listed for weight, and most UAE cover for weight-loss medicines is limited to special programmes.4
Dubai’s basic insurance plan excludes “pharmacological weight reduction regimens”.5 Daman, the Abu Dhabi insurer, lists Saxenda for obesity but covers obesity medicines only for members enrolled in the Thiqa obesity programme.4 Doctor visits and tests are extra. Cover rules are in our insurance post.
What do you get for that price?
Saxenda (liraglutide) is a daily weight-loss injection from Novo Nordisk. In its 56-week trial, people lost 8.0% of their weight, against 2.6% on dummy injections.3
In STEP 8, a trial against weekly Wegovy (semaglutide), people lost 6.4% on Saxenda and 15.8% on Wegovy over 68 weeks.6 The EU label says to stop Saxenda after 12 weeks on 3 mg if you have not lost at least 5%.3 The full comparison is in Saxenda vs Wegovy.
- Stomach effects lead the list. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation are very common (more than 1 in 10) on the EU label.3
- Label warnings on the EU label include pancreatitis (uncommon, 1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000), gallstones (common, 1 in 10 to 1 in 100) and dehydration.3
- Not in pregnancy. The EU label says not to use liraglutide during pregnancy.3
Read the full picture
Related questions
Sources
- Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Circular 48/2026, 16 March 2026: alert on counterfeit weight-loss products that falsely claim to contain GLP‑1 medicines, relaying an Australian (TGA) advisory; GLP‑1 medicines “are prescription-only medicines and should only be used under medical supervision”; the products are not registered with the Emirates Drug Establishment but are sold online and on social media; products bought online may be fake, contain undisclosed ingredients or give no medical benefit; report to [email protected]. Summarised, not reproduced, as the circular asks. doh.gov.ae (PDF)
- Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Shafafiya drug price list (Drugs.xlsx), released 26 September 2026, effective 2 October 2026: official “Package Price to Public” for each pack named here, each listed as a prescription-only medicine (“POM”). Downloaded and checked 12 October 2026. shafafiyaportal.doh.gov.ae (XLSX)
- European Medicines Agency. Saxenda (liraglutide): EU summary of product characteristics and package leaflet (EU label), sections 4.1 (stop after 12 weeks on 3.0 mg if less than 5% weight lost), 4.2 (0.6 mg a day rising by 0.6 mg each week to 3.0 mg; missed dose rule), 4.6, 4.8, 5.1 (Trial 1, SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, Table 5), 5.2 (half-life about 13 hours) and 6.3 (in use: 1 month below 30 °C or in a refrigerator). Not the UAE label. ema.europa.eu (PDF)
- Daman (National Health Insurance Company). Adjudication guideline: Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP‑1) Receptor Agonist, version 5, effective 15 January 2023, revised 19 April 2026: section 3.1.2 (obesity medicines covered under Thiqa for patients enrolled in the Thiqa obesity programme); section 3.3 (obesity medicines “not covered for members who are not enrolled in the Thiqa Obesity Program”); Table 1 (Saxenda/Fitura and Wegovy for obesity; Rybelsus and Ozempic for type 2 diabetes). damaninsurance.ae (PDF)
- Cigna. Essential Benefits Plan (Dubai Health Authority basic plan), table of benefits: exclusion 9 includes “pharmacological weight reduction regimens”; medicines “As per DHA formulary” with a maximum benefit of AED 2,500. cigna-me.com (PDF)
- European Medicines Agency. Wegovy (semaglutide): EU summary of product characteristics and package leaflet (EU label), sections 4.1, 4.2 (dose steps; missed dose within 5 days), 4.6 (stop at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy), 4.8, 5.1 (STEP 1, Table 4; STEP 8, Table 9), 5.2 (half-life about 1 week) and 6.3 (in use: 6 weeks below 30 °C or in a refrigerator). Not the UAE label. ema.europa.eu (PDF)
Last checked 14 Oct 2026 · Next review due 14 Apr 2027 · Report an error
How this answer was made. Written by the GLP Guidebook team from the sources above, all checked on 14 Oct 2026. Prices are official prices to the public from Abu Dhabi's drug list, never a discount, and we don't name, link or rank sellers. Figures marked as our arithmetic are worked out from those sources. It's general information, not medical advice. Talk to a UAE-licensed doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine. How we write