People taking the medication in the obesity of Eli Lilly, Zepboundhas lost almost 50% more weights than those who use Rival Novo Nordisk Wegovy In the first main study of successful drugs.
Participants in the clinical trial who took shooting, the drug sold like Zepbound, lost an average of 50 pounds in 72 weeks, while those who took semaglutide, or Wegovy, lost around 33 pounds (15 kilograms). It is according to the study funded by Lilly, which was published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The two drugs are part of a new class of drugs that work by imitating hormones in the intestine and the brain that regulates appetite and feelings of fullness. But shooting targets two of these hormones, known as GLP-1 and GIP, while the target semaglutide only GLP-1, said Dr. Louis Artonne, director of the full weight control center of Weill Cornell Medicine.
“Two drugs together can produce better weight loss,” said Arch, who led the study and presented the results on Sunday at the European Congress on obesity in Spain.
While Tirzepatide has won in what Archor said that many considered “a breed of dragster efficiency”, both are important tools to treat obesity, which affects around 40% of American adults.
“The purpose of these drugs is to improve health,” he said. “The majority of people will not need the most effective drugs.”
The trial included 751 people from all over the United States which were overweight or had obesity and at least another health problem related to weight, but not diabetes. Participants received weekly injections from the most tolerated doses of Zepbound, 10 milligrams or 15 milligrams, ie Wegovy, 1.7 milligrams or 2.4 milligrams.
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At the end of the trial, those who took Zepbound lost around 20% of their body weight on average, against a loss of almost 14% for those who took Wegovy. The shooting group has cut about 7 inches (17.8 centimeters) of their waist, against about five inches (12.7 centimeters) with semaglutide. In addition, almost 32% of people taking Zepbound have lost at least a quarter of their body weight, against around 16% of those who take Wegovy, the study revealed.
Weight loss was about six percent less in men than in women in the two groups, noted the authors. As the participants of the two groups have lost more weight, they experienced improvements in health markers such as blood pressure, blood fat and blood sugar.
More than three-quarters of patients taking the two drugs reported at least one side effect, mainly light to moderate gastrointestinal problems such as nausea, constipation, diarrhea and vomiting. About six percent of the participants taking Zepbound left the trial due to undesirable events, against eight percent of those who take semaglutide.
GLP-1 drugs have become more and more popular, with at least one in eight American adult reporting their use, according to a survey in 2024 in KFF, an organization of research on independent health policies. Zepbound generated $ 4.9 billion in world sales last year. Wegovy reported nearly $ 8.8 billion (58.2 Billlion Danish Kroner).
Access and affordability have broader use of drugs. The shooting and the semaglutide have recently been removed from a list of drug shortages by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States. The two manufacturers recently published programs that have reduced costs to around $ 500 per month or less, depending on the dose.
Other factors may affect access. This week, CVS Health said that Wegovy will become the favorite option on its standard form, or the list of covered drugs, from July 1. Zepbound will be excluded.
It is important to have a range of drugs to treat a disease as widespread as obesity in the United States, said Dr Angela Fitch, a chief of Knownwell, an obesity care company. Wegovy turned out to repress the risk of serious 20%heart problems, she noted. A drug can work well for a patient, but not for others.
“We are going to need to use them all simply because we have so many patients who need treatment,” she added.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press