A late-stage study indicates that Eli Lilly’s experimental weekly injection retatrutide may lead to greater weight loss than Ozempic in adults with Type 2 diabetes, while also producing a slightly larger reduction in blood sugar, according to company-released results.
The Phase 3 trial pitted retatrutide against Ozempic, also called semaglutide, in 1,298 adults whose Type 2 diabetes was not well controlled with metformin, a widely used diabetes medication, with or without an additional drug. At the start of the study, participants weighed about 226 pounds on average.
After 80 weeks, the average weight loss was 44 pounds for participants taking the 9-milligram dose of retatrutide and 47 pounds for those on the 12-milligram dose. In the Ozempic group, the average loss was 21 pounds. That works out to roughly 20% to 21% of starting weight with retatrutide, compared with about 9% with Ozempic.
Average A1C levels, which reflect blood sugar over time, dropped by 2.2 percentage points with retatrutide and by 1.8 points with Ozempic. Lilly also said retatrutide produced stronger improvements in some cardiovascular risk markers, including cholesterol and blood pressure. The study did not determine whether the drug lowers the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Retatrutide works on three hormone pathways tied to appetite and blood sugar, while Ozempic targets one of them, GLP-1. Researchers are examining whether that broader mechanism could offer another option for people with Type 2 diabetes and excess weight.
Nausea and diarrhea were among the most frequently reported side effects. Treatment discontinuation because of side effects was higher at the 12-milligram retatrutide dose than with Ozempic, at 7.9% versus 2.7%. The rate was 4.8% in the 9-milligram retatrutide group.
The findings are still preliminary and come from company data. Lilly said it intends to present the full results at a future medical conference and publish them in a peer-reviewed journal. The comparison reflects the doses, participants and 80-week duration used in this study.
Retatrutide has not been approved by the FDA and is not available as a prescription medication. Lilly said it expects to seek FDA approval in early 2027 and warned consumers not to buy products online that are marketed as retatrutide.
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