Peps
Start with a shared question
A chart of headline weight-loss percentages can hide differences in participants, follow-up, comparators, and treatment regimens. Before comparing numbers, decide what you want to know: glucose control, weight change, cardiovascular events, tolerability, or another outcome. Those questions need different evidence.
A randomized head-to-head trial is particularly useful for its actual comparison. It does not answer every other question about either medicine. Two separate placebo-controlled trials cannot be treated as though their participants were randomized against one another.
Source: Tirzepatide versus Semaglutide Once Weekly in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. ↗
Source: Triple-Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity - A Phase 2 Trial. ↗
SURPASS-2 is direct, but its comparator matters
SURPASS-2 compared three tirzepatide regimens with semaglutide 1 mg over 40 weeks in people with type 2 diabetes. Its primary endpoint was change in HbA1c. The reported glucose and weight results favored tirzepatide in that trial.
The comparator was not the 2.4 mg semaglutide obesity regimen, and the trial was open-label. Keep those facts attached to any summary. HbA1c percentage points also cannot be mixed with percentage body-weight change on an unlabeled chart.
Source: Tirzepatide versus Semaglutide Once Weekly in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. ↗
Retatrutide has separate obesity and diabetes studies
The 2023 obesity trial and the 2023 diabetes trial enrolled different populations and addressed different primary questions. The diabetes study randomized 281 people, with 275 in efficacy analyses, and compared retatrutide groups with placebo and dulaglutide 1.5 mg.
Its primary endpoint was HbA1c at 24 weeks; additional outcomes continued to 36 weeks. Not every retatrutide group outperformed the active comparator. Phase 2 results also leave important questions about uncommon harms and longer-term outcomes.
Source: Triple-Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity - A Phase 2 Trial. ↗
An event outcome is different from a weight endpoint
SELECT asked whether semaglutide reduced a cardiovascular composite in people with established cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity, without diabetes. That is a different claim from weight reduction alone. The paper also reports adverse-event discontinuation, which belongs in the comparison.
Use the original paper dates and check current product-specific sources separately. A result obtained with a trial preparation does not establish equivalence with a research-use listing or an abbreviated seller code. This guide compares selected studies, not treatment options for an individual.
Source: Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes. ↗
Continue with the original research
Study examples are based on selected publication abstracts and the explicitly described source documents. This is not a systematic review or an individualized treatment guide. Editorial scope and methods.