Mounjaro and Wegovy were put head to head
Patients using the ‘King Kong’ of weight loss jabs lost a fifth of their body weight on average(Image: Getty Images)
The first head-to-head trial of two popular weight loss injections has revealed a clear winner.
Mounjaro helps people shed much more weight than a rival weight loss jab, new research suggests.
The weight loss jab, dubbed the “King Kong” of similar medicines, has shown to be around 50 per cent more effective than its predecessor Wegovy.
Mounjaro is the brand name for the drug tirzepatide, while Wegovy is semaglutide. Both drugs work by mimicking the action of hormones that make you feel full and are available either privately or on the NHS through specialist weight management services.
Both injections led to substantial weight loss but after 72 weeks of treatment, Mounjaro’s 20 per cent weight loss exceeded the 14 per cent from Wegovy, the research found.
According to Dr Louis Aronne from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, who led the research, the dual action of Mounjaro may explain the findings.
Mounjaro also mimics another hormone called GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide), which plays a role in regulating appetite and food intake.
Mounjaro came top for weight loss in the first ‘head-to-head trial'(Image: PA)
Dr Aronne said: “Our study shows that treatment with tirzepatide was superior to semaglutide with respect to reduction in body weight and waist circumference.
“Tirzepatide, while a single molecule, pharmacologically activates two metabolic receptors, GIP and GLP-1, which have both overlapping and non-overlapping expression and function.
“This dual agonism of tirzepatide may contribute to the higher weight reduction observed in the current study compared to semaglutide, a mono-agonist.”
The study looked at 751 patients with obesity. Half of participants were given 10mg or 15mg of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and the rest took 1.7mg or 2.4mg of semaglutide (Wegovy).
After 72 weeks, the Mounjaro group lost around a fifth (20 per cent) of their body weight, while the Wegovy group lost on average 13.7 per cent. The drop in waist circumference was also 18.4cm on average with Mounjaro and 13cm with Wegovy.
Speaking at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain, on Sunday, Dr Aronne said: “This is actually the first head-to-head trial of two obesity medications, so I think we’re going to start seeing more of these as new medications become available.
“I saw a list the other day of 150 medications…that are now in development, so many people now realise how important it is to manage body weight in addition to other metabolic factors.
“I’ve called it the golden age of obesity treatment. It took a long time!”
Semaglutide drug Wegovy is also an “extremely effective” weight loss drug, experts say(Image: PA)
According to Dr Aronne, semaglutide still remained an “extremely effective” weight loss medication and that the trial did not intend to minimise its effects.
He added: “For example, if you have a patient with a BMI of 32, which is class one obesity, they could get to a BMI in the mid 20s, right around 25 (with semaglutide), which is normal.
“So the majority of people with obesity will do just fine on semaglutide. People at the higher end – class two, class three obesity – may ultimately do better with tirzepatide.”
One limitation to the research was that participants knew which drug they were taking. However, the researchers claim the findings are in line with previous studies.
The research was sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company, the manufacturer of Mounjaro.