Updated October 28, 2026, 12:35 p.m. ET
Eli Lilly said its investigational GLP-1 drug, retatrutide, beat Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic in terms of blood sugar control and weight loss in a large study of adults with type 2 diabetes.
In a comparison study, people on retatrutide lost more than twice as much weight and reduced their blood sugar at a faster rate than those on Ozempic, Lilly said Oct. 28.
The study compared 9 mg and 12 mg doses of retatrutide to a 2 mg dose of the diabetes drug Ozempic, which is the highest dose approved for people with type 2 diabetes.
Lilly said the 80-week study showed that people on retatrutide reduced their HbA1c levels, a measure of blood sugar, by an average of 2.2%, compared with 1.8% for those on Ozempic. Retatrutide users lost an average of 44.3 pounds with the 9 mg dose and 47.4 pounds with the 12 mg dose. Study participants using the low-dose version of Ozempic lost an average of 20.9 pounds, Lilly said.
The most common side effects among retatrutide users were stomach-related. People taking retatrutide were more likely to stop treatment due to side effects than those taking Ozempic. Lilly said 7.9% of retatrutide users receiving the 12 mg dose stopped the drug due to side effects, far more than the 2.7% of Ozempic users who stopped using the drug.
Ozempic should not be evaluated solely on weight loss, Novo spokeswoman Liz Skrbkova said.
“The highest doses of Ozempic go beyond glycemic control and effective weight loss, as its broad and deep clinical evidence has also proven protection of the heart, kidneys and liver in people living with type 2 diabetes,” Skrbkova said. “It also has an established safety and tolerability profile and has been used by more than 28 million people worldwide.”
Lilly already sells weight loss drug Zepbound and type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro. The company previously said it plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for retatrutide before the end of March 2027.
Weight loss and diabetes medications such as Wegovy and Ozempic, commonly called GLP-1, mimic the effects of glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone that regulates metabolism. Retatrutide is a triple receptor agonist and mimics three gut hormones: GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon.
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