Eli Lilly Zepbound Causes More Weight Loss Than Novo Nordisk Wegovy: Trial

Elie Lilly said Wednesday that its obesity drug, Zepbound, causes greater weight loss than its main rival, Novo NordiskWegovy, in the first comparative clinical trial of weekly injections.

Results suggest Zepbound could be a superior weight loss treatment, helping obese or overweight patients lose 20.2% of their body weight, or about 50 pounds, on average after 72 weeks in the phase trial three. Meanwhile, Wegovy helped people lose 13.7% of their weight, or about 33 pounds, on average after the same time period.

Eli Lilly said Zepbound provided 47% greater relative weight reduction than Wegovy in the trial. The company added that more than 31% of people taking Zepbound lost at least a quarter of their body weight, compared to just about 16% of those taking Wegovy who lost that much weight.

Separate drug studies, as well as a recent comparative analysis of health records, have also suggested that Zepbound outperforms Wegovy in terms of weight loss. An advanced study on Zepbound showed the product helped patients lose more than 22% of their weight on average over 72 weeks, while a separate study on Wegovy showed it led to 15% weight loss in average over 68 weeks.

But Wednesday’s data appears to be the most concrete evidence of Zepbound’s benefit, since the trial randomly assigned 751 patients to receive the maximum dose of either drug. The study specifically followed obese or overweight patients with at least one weight-related medical problem, not including diabetes.

“Given the growing interest in anti-obesity medications, we conducted this study to help health care providers and patients make informed decisions regarding treatment selection,” said Dr. Leonard Glass, senior vice president of global medical affairs at Eli Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, in a statement. .

Eli Lilly is still evaluating the results, which he plans to publish in a peer-reviewed journal and present at a medical meeting next year.

The most common side effects of both drugs were gastrointestinal and were generally mild to moderate in intensity.

Zepbound’s greater weight loss is a huge advantage for Eli Lilly, which is competing with Novo Nordisk for a larger share of the booming weight-loss drug market. Some analysts expect space to be worth $150 billion a year by the early 2030s.

Wegovy entered the market about two years before Zepbound, which won approval in the United States in late 2023. Some analysts, however, believe that Zepbound has a good chance of becoming the best-selling drug of all time after several years on the market. walk.

Data analytics firm GlobalData projects that Zepbound will generate $27.2 billion in annual sales by 2030 and that Wegovy will record $18.7 billion in annual revenue in the same year, according to November data.

Demand has far outstripped supply for Zepbound, Wegovy and their diabetes counterparts over the past year, forcing Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to invest billions in expanding their manufacturing capacity for these shots. These efforts appear to be paying off, as the Food and Drug Administration now lists all doses of these treatments as “available” in its drug shortage database.

Yet some patients struggle to access medications due to inconsistent insurance coverage of weight loss treatments in the United States. Without insurance or other savings, Zepbound and Wegovy both cost around $1,000 per month.

Treatments work differently.

Zepbound reduces appetite and regulates blood sugar by activating two gut hormones, called GIP and GLP-1. Wegovy activates GLP-1 but does not target GIP, which some researchers believe may also affect how the body breaks down sugar and fat.