Sean Wharton: ‘Health Canada’s approval of Saxenda® a step in right direction’

On Thursday, February 27th, Health Canada, the Federal department responsible for helping Canadians maintain and improve their health, approved the use of Saxenda® (liraglutide), a new drug that was submitted by Novo Nordisk, the drug’s developer and manufacturer, to treat chronic weight management.

Saxenda® (liraglutide) is a once-daily glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue. In helping to treat those who suffer from chronic weight management problems, the drug mimics the natural occurring GLP-1 hormone, which the body releases in response to food intake. Similar to the GLP-1 hormone, Saxenda® decreases appetite and reduces body weight by regulating the intake of food.

As advised by Novo Nordick, with the combination of a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity, Saxenda® (liraglutide) can help chronic weight management in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of:

• 30 kg/m2 or greater (obese), or;
• 27 kg/m2 or greater (overweight) in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbidity (e.g., hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or dyslipidemia) and who have failed a previous weight management intervention.

Saxenda® is not the first drug to serve as an analogue for the GLP-1 hormone. However, Saxenda® benefits from several things. One, the drug was evaluated in several clinical trials prior to being brought to market. A SCALE™ (Satiety and Clinical Adiposity−Liraglutide Evidence in Non-diabetic and Diabetic people) trial of the drug involved 5,000 people who were either obese or suffering from weight management issues and had at least one comorbidity.

Also noteworthy, in approving the use of the drug to treat chronic weight management, Health Canada followed on the heels of positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on January 22nd of this year and approval of Saxenda by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States on December 23rd last year.

Over the past three decades, obesity has grown to be one of the most serious health concerns in North America, as well as across the globe. And Canada has not been immune to issues with obesity. Approximately 25 per cent of the adult population in Canada is considered obese, which translates to approximately 6.5 million people.

Obesity is also frequently associated with other related chronic diseases, or comorbidities, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, certain types of cancer and overall lower life expectancy.

Saxenda® (liraglutide) will serve as another treatment method for those suffering from obesity.

“I think it’s important that patients understand that Saxenda® , or any other obesity-related drug, is not a cure-all,” says Sean Wharton of Canada’s Wharton Medical Clinic, a government-funded weight management clinic that’s focused on treating obesity through a medical, interdisciplinary approach.

Notably, Dr. Sean Wharton and his team at the Wharton Medical Clinic contributed to two of the clinical trials that helped in Health Canada’s approval process of Saxenda® (liraglutide).

“Saxenda® , like any other medication, should be a part of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment plan against obesity, an approach that includes improvement in diet and physical activity, as well as monitoring of any existing comorbidities.” Dr. Sean Wharton continues. “With that said, I’m very excited that Health Canada approved Saxenda. I think it’s a step in the right direction. We may even see some benefits for post-surgical weight-regain patients, which is an important emerging field in internal medicine.”