Diabetes medicine Tirzepatide outperforms Semaglutide

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A recent study suggests that Tirzepatide, a medication for Type 2 diabetes, outperforms its counterpart Semaglutide in controlling blood sugar level and weight loss, EurekAlert, the science news site of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said in a news report on Monday.

A Greek research team led by Dr. Thomas Karagiannis from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki drew this conclusion from a comprehensive analysis of data pooled from 22 clinical trials involving both Tirzepatide and Semaglutide. The team’s findings were unveiled in an early release of the presentation for the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting taking place in Hamburg in October 2023.

Both medications fall under the category of incretin-based therapies but differ in their mechanisms, with Semaglutide being a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist and Tirzepatide being a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GLP-1/GIP) dual receptor agonist.

Semaglutide has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat diabetes and obesity. Tirzepatide is approved for diabetes treatment and has also submitted an additional application for obesity management.

The overall trial involved 18,472 patients with Type 2 diabetes and extended over a span of 12 weeks. The results revealed that Tirzepatide consistently outperformed Semaglutide across various dosage groups in significantly reducing glycated hemoglobin levels.

Glycated hemoglobin, which measures the binding of glucose to red blood cell pigment (hemoglobin), is an indicator of long-term blood sugar control. A level exceeding 6.5 percent typically leads to a diabetes diagnosis.

Tirzepatide also demonstrated superior effects in weight loss compared to Semaglutide. However, both medications come with gastrointestinal side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.