GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs

The news can’t stop talking about them and questions abound: Are they safe? How much weight can you expect to lose? Which celebrities are using them? Here’s a cheat sheet to catch you up on the basics.

These drugs belong to a class called “GLP-1 Agonist” which, admittedly, is a terrible term that’s not catchy at all. “Heroin is an opioid” is easy to remember but “Tirzepatide is a GLP-1 Agonist” sounds like sci-fi movie technobabble. To make it even more confusing the drugs have different brand names depending on how they’re being used.

Liraglutide (Victoza/Saxenda)

• FDA approved in 2014 for diabetes and obesity
• Created by Novo Nordisk
• Victoza – brand name for treating type 2 diabetes
• Saxenda – brand name for treating obesity

Semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy/Rybelsus)

• FDA approved in 2017 for diabetes, 2021 for obesity
• Created by Novo Nordisk
• Ozempic – brand name for treating type 2 diabetes
• Wegovy – brand name for treating obesity
• Rybelsus is an oral version for treating type 2

Tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound)

• FDA approved in 2022 for diabetes, 2023 for obesity
• Created by Eli Lilly
• Mounjaro for is for treating type 2 diabetes
• Zepbound is for obesity
• A more potent drug than they other two that acts on both GLP-1 and GIP receptors

Here are a few key points about these drugs:

• They’re ineffective for about 15% of people.
• Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.
• They are injectable since oral versions are largely destroyed by the digestive system.
• They’re expensive, partly because of the costly injectable pens they require.

That last point, the cost, might be somewhat alleviated by using a compounding pharmacy. I’ll explore this option further in another post.