Retatrutide beats Ozempic in late-stage trial: more than double the weight loss, but safety questions remain
The race for weight-loss drugs has entered a new phase after US drugmaker Eli Lilly announced results from a late-stage clinical trial showing that its experimental drug retatrutide produced more than twice the weight loss achieved with Ozempic. Participants on the highest dose of the new drug lost 20.9 per cent of their body weight over 80 weeks, compared with 9.4 per cent for those taking Ozempic.
The trial involved about 1,300 people with type 2 diabetes and compared two weekly doses of retatrutide, 9mg and 12mg, with a 2mg dose of Ozempic. In absolute terms, people on the highest dose lost about 21.5kg on average against 9.5kg, and their HbA1c, a measure of average blood sugar, fell by 2.2 percentage points compared with 1.8 points.
The difference comes down to how the drugs work. Ozempic targets a single hormone receptor, GLP-1, while retatrutide acts on three: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon, which helps regulate appetite, blood sugar and energy use at the same time. Mounjaro, made by the same company, targets two receptors. The trial did not, however, include a direct comparison with Mounjaro or with the doses of Wegovy used to treat obesity, so it cannot be said that the new drug outperforms every treatment on the market.
On side effects, people taking retatrutide reported digestive symptoms, chiefly nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, and 7.9 per cent of those on the highest dose stopped treatment because of them, compared with 2.7 per cent on Ozempic. The drug has not yet received any regulatory approval. The company plans to apply for approval in the United States in 2027, and the full results have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Al Majlis Analysis: These results confirm that the next generation of obesity drugs is moving towards targeting several hormonal pathways at once. That means bigger results on the scales, but also a bigger challenge in how well patients tolerate treatment, as the near threefold dropout rate shows. For Gulf countries, where rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes are high, any drug that combines weight loss with blood sugar control will draw wide interest as soon as it reaches the market. The road to approval is still long, though, and the most important questions concern long-term safety and whether the results last once treatment stops. Medical advice, not optimistic headlines, should remain the guide.