Eli Lilly (LLY) reported results from an indirect treatment comparison suggesting its weight-loss drug Zepbound was associated with greater weight loss than Novo Nordisk’s high-dose Wegovy HD. The analysis was not a direct head-to-head trial; it compared data from the separate SURMOUNT-1 and STEP UP studies. Lilly presented the findings at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting. [2, 5, 7, 11]
At 72 weeks, patients taking 15 mg of Zepbound lost an average of 4.5% more body weight than those taking 7.2 mg of Wegovy HD. [4, 7]
Patients taking 10 mg of Zepbound lost an average of 3.2% more body weight than those taking Wegovy HD. [4, 7]
Participants taking 15 mg of Zepbound had more than three times the odds of achieving at least 20% body-weight reduction compared with the Wegovy HD group. Rates of stopping treatment because of adverse events were comparable between the two treatments. [5, 7]
The findings add to a previous head-to-head study in which Zepbound was superior to lower doses of Wegovy. [2, 4]