What is Zepbound? Could the weight-loss drug work better than Ozempic?

Zepbound has been approved in the U.S. for weight loss, and studies show it could be the best-performing obesity drug to date.

A new weight-loss drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday, opening up more options for U.S. patients seeking treatment for obesity.

In the past year, there has been a huge boon in the popularity of weight-loss drugs thanks to Ozempic, a type-two diabetes drug that generated headlines for its off-label use as an obesity drug. Demand for Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy, which is approved specifically for obesity, has led to shortages.

Wegovy has never been available in Canada — despite being approved two years ago — due to persistent supply issues.

But with the FDA approval of Zepbound by drugmaker Eli Lilly, it looks like Wegovy is no longer the only obesity drug on the market.

Zepbound is a new product, but it’s not a new drug.

The medical ingredient in Zepbound is called tirzepatide, which is the same ingredient in another Eli Lilly drug called Mounjaro, a type-two diabetes medicine. Mounjaro was approved in Canada last year and has been prescribed off-label for obesity.

This is similar to the case of Ozempic and Wegovy. Both drugs are made by Novo Nordisk and share the same medical ingredient, called semaglutide. Despite being the same drug, the former is approved specifically for diabetes while the latter is approved for obesity.

According to clinical trials, however, Zepbound (or tirzepatide) may perform better than semaglutide when it comes to weight loss.