Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have cleared Eli Lilly’s injectable diabetes medication for use as a weight loss treatment, creating the first direct rival to Wegovy, Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug.
The US Food and Drug Administration and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said patients in clinical trials of Lilly’s tirzepatide had seen “significant” weight loss compared with those given a placebo. At the highest dose, patients had lost nearly 50lbs on average, Lilly said.
The regulators cleared the drug for weight-loss use for obese and overweight adults in conjunction with a lower-calorie diet and increased exercise. Tirzepatide is already sold under the name Mounjaro as a diabetes treatment in both countries. It will keep that brand name in the UK as an obesity treatment but will be sold in the US as Zepbound for weight loss.