Zepbound Beats Wegovy in First Head-to-Head Trial
Lilly reported in December that its obesity drug had already met the main goal, leading to 47 percent more weight loss than those who received Wegovy. Full data from the study was reported by the company in a press release and presented at the European Congress on Obesity.
The data is the first head-to-head trial comparing the wildly popular medicines, and gives Lilly more firepower as it seeks to gain wider insurance coverage in an obesity drug market estimated to reach more than $150 billion annually by the next decade.
It comes days after CVS Health's decision to drop Zepbound from some lists of medicines it covers for reimbursement, instead favouring Wegovy.
Zepbound helped nearly 25 percent more participants lose more than 15 percent of their weight compared to Wegovy, Lilly said on Sunday.
The trial also showed that treatment with Zepbound achieved a superior average waist circumference reduction of 18.4 centimetres, while those treated with Wegovy saw an average reduction of 13 centimetres.
While Lilly's drug mimics two gut hormones to help reduce weight, Wegovy has a single mode of action.
US approvals for Zepbound and Wegovy were based on separate trials in which Lilly's drug helped patients lose more than 22 percent of their weight after 72 weeks, while Wegovy led to 15 percent weight loss after 68 weeks.
By Christy Santhosh; Edited by Leroy Leo
Learn more:
CVS Drops Lilly's Zepbound as Preferred Drug in Novo Win
Starting July 1, Wegovy, not Zepbound, will be preferred on CVS Caremark's standard formulary.
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"As Dr. Mona Sharifi, a co-author of this paper, has shown, intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment programs can be cost-effective but inadequate funding is the main barrier to implementing and sustaining these programs." What's next? "Given the size and clinical characteristics of the U.S. youth population eligible for GLP-1RAs, there should be greater discussion of how to improve access to GLP-1RAs and other anti-obesity interventions among this population." Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about GLP-1 drugs? Let us know via health@ Reference Chetty, A. K., Sharifi, M., & Nugent, J. T. (2025). Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist eligibility among US adolescents and young adults. JAMA Pediatrics.
