The study, published Nov. 22 by Truveta Research, analyzed 18,386 adult patients who were overweight or obese and taking Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro or Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic between May 2022 and September 2023.
Mounjaro is the brand name for tirzepatide, which works by reducing appetite and improving how the body breaks down sugar and fat. The medication — taken by injection in the thigh, stomach or arm — is FDA-approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, but many have used it off-label for weight loss.
Mounjaro’s competitor is Ozempic, the brand name for semaglutide, which works in the brain to impact satiety and is also FDA-approved to treat Type 2 diabetes. Similar to Mounjaro, Ozempic has been trending due to celebrities using it off-label for weight loss. Researchers found that patients taking Mounjaro experienced “significantly larger reductions in body weight” while taking the medication compared to patients taking Ozempic.
The large-scale study, which is not yet peer-reviewed, states that patients taking Mounjaro were three times more likely to lose 15% of their body weight than those on Ozempic. Additionally, patients on Mounjaro were six times more likely to lose 10% of their body weight and 1.8 times more likely to lose 5% of their body weight than those taking Ozempic.
“We’ve been able to compare the head-to-head efficacy of these two important medications for weight loss in advance of randomized clinical trials,” Nick Stucky, study author and vice president of Truveta Research, said in a statement. “This study can help to inform patient care and outcomes today, not months from now.”
“Because tirzepatide was only approved by the FDA in mid-2022 for type 2 diabetes, the ability to rigorously analyze its use (on- and off-label) for a broad population of patients with overweight and obesity, not just a subset captured in insurance databases, has the power to greatly improve our understanding of how these agents are being used in everyday practice and the effect they’re having,” added Tyler Gluckman, study author and cardiologist at Providence Health.
A spokesperson for Eli Lilly told NBC Miami that the company does not promote or encourage off-label use of any of its medicines and noted that the study was not sponsored by the drugmaker. Additionally, a Novo Nordisk spokesperson told the outlet that the company was also not involved in the study.
Both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have other versions of the medications that are approved for weight loss. Novo Nordisk has Wegovy, another brand name for semaglutide, which was FDA-approved to treat obesity in 2021. Eli Lilly has Zepbound, another brand name for tirzepatide, which was FDA-approved to treat obesity earlier this month.
Source: People
