Weight-loss medications continue to grow in popularity as an anti-obesity tool — but are some more effective than others?
The question was explored in a new study published this month in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers compared the safety and efficacy of tirzepatide (brand name Zepbound) and semaglutide (brand name Wegovy) in a 72-week clinical trial.
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The randomized, controlled trial — called SURMOUNT-5 — included 751 people throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico who had obesity but not type 2 diabetes.
“Doctors, insurance companies and patients are always asking, ‘Which drug is more effective?’” said Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center and the Sanford I. Weill Professor of Metabolic Research at Weill Cornell Medicine, in the release. “This study allowed us to do a direct comparison.”
“The results are consistent with — in fact, almost identical to — what we’ve seen in trials in which these drugs were evaluated independently,” added Aronne, who was a principal investigator in the trial.
The study found that tirzepat,ide achieved greater weight loss, with participants shedding about 50 pounds (20.2% of their body weight).
The group taking semaglutide lost an average of 33 pounds or 13.7% of their baseline weight, according to a press release summarizing the study outcome.
Overall, 32% of the people taking tirzepatide lost at least 25% of their body weight; semaglutide users lost around 16%.
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Tirzepatide users also reported a “greater reduction in waist circumference” than those on semaglutide.
The likely reason for tirzepatide’s greater effectiveness is that it uses a “dual mechanism of action,” according to Aronne.
“Whereas semaglutide works by activating receptors for a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, tirzepatide mimics not only GLP-1, but also an additional hormone, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP),” the release stated.
“Together, these actions reduce hunger, lower blood-glucose levels and affect fat cell metabolism.”
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Additional trials are actively exploring whether tirzepatide also reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, a benefit that has been linked to semaglutide.
The study was led by Dr. Louis Aronne, with collaboration from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. The spokesperson from Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Wegovy (semaglutide), sent a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Across the respective clinical trial programs and in SURMOUNT-5, both Wegovy and Zepbound have demonstrated clinically significant weight reduction,” the company said. “It is important to recognize that the comprehensive management of obesity goes beyond weight reduction alone.”
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“The spokesperson also pointed out that in a previous trial, adults who were obese or overweight and who took Wegovy along with diet and exercise lost an average of 15.2% of their weight (~35 pounds) at the two-year mark, compared with 2.6% (~6 pounds) for patients taking a placebo.”