Overweight or obese adults lost more weight and shed pounds faster using Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro than those taking Novo Nordisk’s popular rival weight loss drug, according to an analysis of health records and other data.
Within one year of starting treatment, 42.3% of those taking tirzepatide – the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound – had lost at least 15% of their weight, compared with 19.3% among patients taking semaglutide – the main ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, the study published on medRxiv in advance of peer review found.
In the absence of head-to-head randomized controlled trials comparing the two drugs, researchers used electronic health records and pharmacy dispensing data to analyze weight loss trajectories in 9,193 patients receiving Mounjaro and the same number of closely matched patients receiving Ozempic. The average participant weighed 242 pounds (110 kg), and about half had type 2 diabetes.
After 3 months of treatment, patients on Mounjaro had lost an average of 2.3% more body weight than those taking Ozempic, the study also found. By 6 months, the difference had widened to 4.3%, and by 12 months, the Mounjaro group had lost an average of 7.2% more weight.
