The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has endorsed Novo Nordisk’s Saxenda (liraglutide) for National Health Service (NHS) use for the treatment of adult patients suffering from obesity and nondiabetic hyperglycemia.

NICE recommends that the treatment be given to patients with high body mass indexes at high risk for type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease due to factors such as high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels.

The treatment, which is administered via pre-filled injection pens, should be discontinued if body weight has not dropped by 5 percent after 12 weeks, NICE said.

The institute previously refused to recommend the drug for NHS use due to cost concerns.