Novo Nordisk Korea said Thursday that its obesity treatment injection, Saxenda (ingredient: liraglutide), took the first place in the obesity treatment sales in the country.

According to the IQVIA, a drug survey agency, Novo Nordisk sold 42.5 billion won ($35 million) worth of Saxenda in 2019, accounting for 32 percent of the obesity treatment market estimated to be 134.1 billion won. Novo Nordisk's sales grew a whopping 466 percent from last year’s 7.5 billion won.”It is significant that Saxenda maintains its top position in the obesity drug market in just two years of its launch in Korea,” said Rana Azfar Zafar, general manager of Novo Nordisk Korea.

Saxenda is the world's first and only injection-type drug for treating obesity with glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). The treatment also improves cardio-metabolic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.

Saxenda, which is 97 percent similar to GLP-1, a naturally occurring appetite regulator in response to food intake, increases satiety to reduce appetite, resulting in weight loss.

In the Satiety and Clinical Adiposity–Liraglutide Evidence (SCALE) clinical trial, composed of four studies with 5,358 participants, the treatment confirmed significant weight loss and sustained loss effect.

A clinical study of 3,731 obese and prediabetic patients showed that the Saxenda injected group continued to lose weight, resulting in a 9.2 percent loss of body weight after one year.

Also, liraglutide 1.8-milligram confirmed long-term cardiovascular safety and excellence in a LEADER trial involving 9,340 patients with type 2 diabetes. LEADER trial was a randomized, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled, cardiovascular outcomes trial.

The type 2 diabetes group with 1.8-milligram injection, compared to the placebo group, showed a 13-percent risk reduction relative to the major cardiovascular system and a 22-percent lowered risk of cardiovascular death in patients with high-risk cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes who have a history of cardiovascular disease.