A competition among the top 2 GLP-1 weight loss drugs in the world

The competition between Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the field of weight loss is still ongoing. As the two core products of GLP-1 weight loss drugs worldwide, the showdown between tirzepatide and semaglutide has reached a crucial turning point.

Following the announcement five months ago that Eli Lilly and Company had defeated Novo Nordisk's semaglutide head to head with their own altopeptide, the detailed results of the SURMUNT-5 study have finally been released recently. The data shows that at week 72, Telopotide achieved the primary endpoint and five key secondary endpoints, with an average weight loss ratio of 1.47 times that of the semaglutide group and an average weight loss of 1.52 times that of the semaglutide group, demonstrating superior efficacy with comprehensive wins. The specific data has been synchronously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

SURBOUNT-5 is an open label phase 3b clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the GLP/GLP-1 dual receptor agonist tilpoleptide and the GLP-1 single receptor agonist semaglutide in obese or overweight adults (without diabetes) with at least one complication (such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease).

A total of 751 obese or overweight adults without diabetes but with at least one weight related disease (such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, etc.) were recruited in the trial, and were allocated to receive the maximum tolerable dose of tirzepatide (10mg or 15mg) or the active control drug semaglutide (1.7mg or 2.4mg) in a 1:1 ratio. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the percentage change in patient weight compared to baseline for two drugs within 72 weeks.

In terms of the primary endpoint, the average weight loss rate of the tirzepatide group was 20.2%, achieving an average weight loss of 22.8kg, while the average weight loss rate of the semaglutide group was 13.7%, achieving an average weight loss of 15.0kg, showing significant superiority. In terms of key secondary endpoints, tirzepatide outperformed semaglutide in all weight loss goals.