Diabetes drug Mounjaro more effective for weight loss than Ozempic: Analysis

New diabetes drug Mounjaro is more effective for weight loss that the popular drug Ozempic, an analysis found.

The analysis, conducted by Truveta Research, found that patients taking Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro were “significantly more likely” to experience 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent loss of their body weight while taking the drug than those who were taking Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic. Using health record data, Truveta looked at adults deemed overweight or obese who had started taking either Mounjaro or Ozempic between May 2022 and September 2023.

The research included results from 18,386 patients. Within one year of treatment, the analysis found that a patients taking Mounjaro experienced “larger reductions in weight” at three, six and 12 months. 

Those who took Mounjaro were nearly twice as likely to achieve 5 percent weight loss, six times more likely to achieve 10 percent weight loss and three times more likely to achieve 15 percent weight loss than those on Ozempic, according to the analysis.

“[W]e’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, an author of the study 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.”

Neither drug is approved under the names of Mounjaro or Ozempic to manage weight loss, but many people have been taking the weekly injections off-label for that purpose. 

Tirzepatide, the drug under the name Mounjaro, was formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this month for weight loss management. The drug will be marketed as Zepbound for chronic weight management in adults who have obesity or are overweight with at least one weight-related condition.

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement that it was not involved in this analysis and emphasized that Ozempic “is not indicated for weight management.” Instead, the company said its Wegovy drug is intended for weight loss. Wegovy features semaglutide, which is the same ingredient that’s included in Ozempic.

The Hill has reached out to Eli Lilly for comment.

Updated at 3:26 pm on Nov. 28.