Zepbound tops Wegovy for weight loss in first head-to-head study comparing the drugs

Those that take tirzepatide, the drug bought as Zepbound and Mounjaro, may lose extra weight than those that take semaglutide, generally known as Ozempic and Wegovy, in accordance with new analysis. 

A examine, printed Sunday within the New England Journal of Medicine, discovered tirzepatide customers misplaced about 20% of their physique weight, whereas these on semaglutide misplaced about 14% over a 72-week interval. 

“That translates to about a difference of eight pounds on average between the two drugs,” Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS Information medical contributor and editor-at-large for public well being at KFF Well being Information, stated on “CBS Mornings” Monday.

Notably, the examine was funded by Lilly, the maker of tirzepatide.

“So you always need to take that with a grain of salt,” Gounder stated, including in a while “CBS Mornings Plus” that the analysis “does look legit, and we have seen hints of this in other studies.”

In an emailed assertion to CBS Information Monday, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, stated each Wegovy and Zepbound have demonstrated clinically vital weight discount in scientific trial applications.

The assertion additionally stated, partially, that “robust data” supporting Wegovy’s “meaningful and unique benefits continue to grow” and that along with “offering significant and sustained weight loss,” Wegovy is “the only obesity medicine approved to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with overweight or obesity and known heart disease backed by real-world evidence.”

Gounder additionally stated the medicine aren’t nearly weight reduction, and pointed to extra well being advantages.

“We’re seeing people’s blood pressure come down, their diabetes numbers, their blood sugars improve, their cholesterol numbers improve,” she stated. “So this is not just the weight loss, it’s also health indicators.”

The value of those medicine, nevertheless, stays excessive. On common, they will price over $1,000 out of pocket. If ordered via the drugmakers immediately, you could possibly pay lower than $500 out of pocket. Total, just one in 4 insurance coverage firms cowl these medicines, Gounder stated.

“Big picture, there’s still a lot that needs to be done on insurance coverage,” she stated. “There was a proposal under Biden to expand coverage to these drugs under Medicare, the Trump administration pulled back on that, and a lot of, as I said, private insurance companies still don’t cover these medications for obesity.”