Mounjaro superior to Ozempic for weight reduction, examine says
A pharmacist shows a field of Mounjaro, a tirzepatide injection drug used for treating sort 2 diabetes and made by Lilly at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, Might 29, 2023.
George Frey | Reuters
The blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro is more practical for weight reduction than one other extremely widespread therapy, Ozempic, in chubby or overweight adults, in line with a large analysis of real-world information printed Monday.
Sufferers taking Eli Lilly‘s Mounjaro had been considerably extra more likely to drop pounds and noticed bigger reductions in physique weight at particular time factors in comparison with these on Novo Nordisk‘s Ozempic within the study by Truveta Research. The agency compiles and analyzes affected person information from a collective of health-care programs.
The outcomes come as each medication and comparable remedies accredited for weight reduction soar in demand within the U.S. for his or her skill to assist sufferers shed undesirable kilos over time. The broader adoption has boosted shares of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk this 12 months.
Mounjaro and Ozempic are solely accredited for the therapy of Sort 2 diabetes, however many individuals use the weekly injections off-label to drop pounds.
Earlier head-to-head studies have equally advised that Mounjaro is more practical than Ozempic for weight reduction and controlling blood sugar in adults with Sort 2 diabetes.
However Monday’s examine confirms Mounjaro’s edge over Ozempic in a real-world setting, particularly amongst adults who’re chubby or overweight. Notably, head-to-head medical trials in that inhabitants should not but accessible, in line with Truveta Analysis.
Eli Lilly is pitting Mounjaro in opposition to Wegovy, a better dose model of Ozempic accredited for weight reduction, in an ongoing clinical trial in overweight or chubby sufferers. However outcomes will not be launched till subsequent 12 months.
“We have been capable of examine the head-to-head efficacy of those two necessary drugs for weight reduction prematurely of randomized medical trials,” stated Dr. Nick Stucky, an creator of the examine and vice chairman of Truveta Analysis, in a press release. “This examine will help to tell affected person care and outcomes in the present day, not months from now.”
Research outcomes on Mounjaro and Ozempic
Truveta Analysis particularly examined health-care information on roughly 18,000 adults who’re chubby or overweight and first began taking Mounjaro or Ozempic between Might 2022 and September 2023. Practically 52% of these sufferers had Sort 2 diabetes.
Researchers discovered that sufferers taking Mounjaro had been thrice extra more likely to lose 15% of their weight than these on Ozempic. Sufferers on Mounjaro had been additionally 2.6 instances extra more likely to obtain 10% weight reduction and 1.8 instances extra more likely to lose 5% of their weight.
These taking Mounjaro additionally skilled “considerably bigger reductions” in physique weight at particular time factors, in line with Truveta Analysis.
At three months, sufferers on Mounjaro misplaced 5.9% of their weight, whereas these on Ozempic misplaced 3.6%. At six months, individuals taking Mounjaro misplaced 10.1% of their weight, whereas sufferers on Ozempic misplaced 5.9%. And at one 12 months, these on Mounjaro misplaced 15.2% of their weight, whereas these on Ozempic misplaced 7.9%.
Truveta Analysis additionally discovered that sufferers with out Sort 2 diabetes misplaced extra weight than these with the situation. However the variations in effectiveness between Mounjaro and Ozempic had been comparable in each populations.
Charges of antagonistic gastrointestinal occasions had been comparable between sufferers taking Mounjaro and Ozempic.
The massive distinction between the weekly injections
Mounjaro and Ozempic are each weekly injections that change the best way sufferers eat and result in decreased urge for food by mimicking sure hormones within the intestine. They each have weight reduction drug counterparts that use the identical energetic ingredient: Eli Lilly’s newly accredited Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.
Ozempic and Wegovy solely mimic one hunger-regulating hormone known as glucagon-like peptide-1, often known as GLP-1, which will increase the sensation of fullness and lowers blood sugar ranges.
In the meantime, Mounjaro and Zepbound mimic GLP-1 and one other hormone within the intestine known as glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, or GIP.
The twin strategy implies that Mounjaro and Zepbound have an enhanced impact on regulating urge for food and blood sugar ranges, which some experts say may doubtlessly result in extra vital weight reduction than drugs solely focusing on GLP-1.
In a late-stage examine of greater than 2,500 adults with weight problems however not diabetes, these taking 5 milligrams of Zepbound for 72 weeks misplaced about 16% of their physique weight on common. Larger doses of the drug had been related to much more weight reduction, with a 15-milligram dose resulting in 22.5% weight reduction on common.
Greater than two in 5 adults have weight problems, in line with the Nationwide Institutes of Well being.
About one in 11 adults have extreme weight problems.
