INTRODUCTION: Semaglutide 2.4 mg injection (Wegovy), a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for weight management in June 2021. Tirzepatide, a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and GLP-1 receptor agonist, was approved for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM; Mounjaro) in May 2022 and weight management (Zepbound) in November 2023. Due to limited data on the long-term effectiveness of these medications, this study assessed real-world weight loss with semaglutide 2.4 mg or tirzepatide after 1 year in patients with overweight or obesity and without T2DM. ® ® ®
METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included adults with overweight or obesity and ≥ 1 pharmacy claim for semaglutide 2.4 mg or tirzepatide in the US Komodo Health database between June 4, 2021, and December 15, 2023. Patients had continuous enrollment for 1 year before (baseline period) and 1 year after (follow-up period) the index date (date of treatment initiation) and persistence on therapy (no gap of > 30 days' supply) during follow-up. Patients with T2DM at baseline were excluded. Weight change from index to 1 year was descriptively assessed.
RESULTS: Overall, 9916 patients were included (semaglutide 2.4 mg, n = 6794; tirzepatide, n = 3122). Baseline characteristics were descriptively similar for semaglutide 2.4 mg and tirzepatide: mean age was 47.8 and 49.5 years, 79.8% and 77.9% were female, and mean index weight was 104.5 and 104.9 kg, respectively. After 1 year of follow-up, the mean weight loss from baseline with semaglutide 2.4 mg and tirzepatide was - 14.6 and - 17.2 kg, respectively, with percent weight loss of - 14.1% and - 16.5%. Most (83.5%) patients treated with semaglutide 2.4 mg reached the maximum dose (2.4 mg), while 25.9% of patients treated with tirzepatide reached the maximum dose (15 mg).
CONCLUSION: Findings suggest semaglutide 2.4 mg and tirzepatide are used in descriptively similar populations and both resulted in clinically meaningful weight loss after 1 year of treatment.
