Amid the struggle on weight problems, a transparent winner has emerged in a battle between two weight-loss injectables. Zepbound (tirzepatide), manufactured by Fortune 500 agency Eli Lilly & Co., bested competitor Wegovy (semaglutide), a product of World 500 firm Novo Nordisk, in a latest randomized scientific trial backed by Lilly.
After injecting the drugs weekly for almost 17 months, sufferers who took Zepbound misplaced 20.2% of their physique weight (50.3 kilos) on common, whereas Wegovy sufferers misplaced 13.7% (33.1 kilos), Lilly introduced in a Dec. 4 information launch. As well as, Zepbound yielded a 47% larger relative weight reduction over its rival, and 31.6% of Zepbound sufferers misplaced a minimum of 25% of their physique weight, in comparison with 16.1% of Wegovy customers.
“Given the increased interest around obesity medications, we conducted this study to help health care providers and patients make informed decisions about treatment choice,” Dr. Leonard Glass, senior vp of world medical affairs at Lilly Cardiometabolic Well being, mentioned within the information launch. “Zepbound is in a class of its own as the only FDA-approved dual GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist obesity medication, and it’s changing how millions of people manage this chronic disease.”
The trial concerned 751 U.S. adults 18 and older who had both weight problems, or obese with a minimum of one of many following medical circumstances: coronary heart illness, hypertension, excessive ldl cholesterol, or obstructive sleep apnea. They obtained the utmost tolerated dose of Zepbound (10 mg or 15 mg) or Wegovy (1.7 mg or 2.4 mg) for 72 weeks. (No participant had diabetes; Lilly markets tirzepatide as Mounjaro to individuals with Sort 2 diabetes, whereas Novo Nordisk does the identical for semaglutide as Ozempic.)
The outcomes haven’t but been peer-reviewed, nevertheless, Lilly indicated they’d in 2025 be printed in a peer-reviewed journal and offered at an unspecified medical assembly.
Lilly funded the scientific trial, the objective of which, the corporate mentioned, “was to demonstrate Zepbound’s superiority in percent change from baseline in body weight at 72 weeks compared to Wegovy.” This shouldn’t essentially increase eyebrows, says Dr. W. Scott Butsch, director of weight problems medication at Cleveland Clinic’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute.
“We should always look at the funding source as a potential bias of the study,” Butsch tells Fortune by way of e-mail. “But this study was well-designed and we should believe the data.”
What’s extra, the trial outcomes are much like these of a examine—not financed by Lilly—printed earlier this 12 months within the journal JAMA Inner Medication, Dr. Holly Lofton, an weight problems medication specialist at NYU Langone Well being, factors out to Fortune. That analysis confirmed that 42.3% of individuals taking tirzepatide, the generic identify for Zepbound, misplaced a minimum of 15% of their physique weight inside a 12 months, in comparison with 15% of individuals taking semaglutide, the generic identify for Wegovy.
Ought to I take Zepbound as a substitute of Wegovy?
Each Zepbound and Wegovy are prescription drugs, so you should seek the advice of your well being care supplier when you have considerations about taking one over the opposite. They’re additionally not the one weight reduction drugs on the market, and your physician might help you identify which can be applicable for you, given your weight-loss objectives and medical historical past.
And whereas the outcomes of Lilly’s trial are promising, they shouldn’t be your solely consideration in requesting a weight-loss remedy, Lofton says.
“Both drugs demonstrate meaningful weight loss of over 10%, which can improve or ameliorate many weight related medical conditions,” Lofton tells Fortune by way of e-mail. “Prescribers and patients should always consider safety, efficacy, and accessibility of the medication when deciding which drug is best for the patient.”
Butsch echoes, “From the patient’s perspective, I don’t think that these study results will change the public demand for tirzepatide, nor result in switching medications. It reinforces that there are currently two highly effective medications, but so many factors—cost, coverage, et cetera—that are barriers to access.”
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