Truveta’s real-world data study comparing tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and semaglutide (Ozempic) for weight loss published in JAMA Internal Medicine
July 08 2024 - 11:16AM
Today Truveta announced that its comparative effectiveness study
exploring weight loss among patients taking semaglutide (Ozempic)
and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) has been published in JAMA Internal
Medicine.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist-based (GLP-1 RA)
medications, including semaglutide and the dual GLP-1 RA/gastric
inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) medication tirzepatide, are used to
treat type 2 diabetes or obesity. In the study published in JAMA
Internal Medicine, Truveta Research compared weight loss outcomes
for patients taking semaglutide and tirzepatide approved by the FDA
for treating type 2 diabetes (Ozempic and Mounjaro, respectively).
The study can also be viewed directly within Truveta Studio.
In this study, Truveta Research studied patients with overweight
or obesity initiating either semaglutide or tirzepatide between May
2022 and September 2023. The team used multiple rigorous methods
(including propensity score matching) to achieve a well-balanced
analytic cohort of more than 18,000 patients to appropriately
evaluate the effectiveness of semaglutide compared with tirzepatide
for weight loss. The analysis found that patients taking
tirzepatide were significantly more likely to achieve weight
loss:
- Those taking
tirzepatide were 1.8 times more likely than those taking
semaglutide to achieve 5% weight loss,
- 2.5 times more
likely than those taking semaglutide to achieve 10% weight
loss,
- And 3.2 times more
likely than those taking semaglutide to achieve 15% weight
loss.
Truveta Research also found that patients taking tirzepatide
experienced significantly larger reductions in body weight at
specified timepoints:
- At 3 months, the
mean percentage change in body weight was -5.9% for those taking
tirzepatide versus -3.6% for those taking semaglutide.
- At six months, the
mean percentage change in body weight was -10.1% for those taking
tirzepatide versus -5.8% for those taking semaglutide.
- At one year, the
mean percentage change in body weight was -15.3% for those taking
tirzepatide versus -8.3% for those taking semaglutide.
The study also found a high rate of discontinuation – 55.9% of
patients on tirzepatide, and 52.5% of patients on semaglutide
within 12 months.
Additionally, the study found that weight loss was greater for
patients without type 2 diabetes than for those with evidence of
type 2 diabetes, though differences in effectiveness between
tirzepatide and semaglutide were similar. Rates of moderate to
severe gastrointestinal adverse events were similar between those
taking tirzepatide and semaglutide.
“GLP-1 medications have dramatically increased in use by
patients with and without type 2 diabetes in the past year, yet
little real-world data exist to compare the effectiveness of two of
the most common medications, semaglutide and tirzepatide,” said
Tricia Rodriguez, PhD, MPH principal applied scientist, Truveta
Research, and lead author on the paper. “That’s what makes today’s
study findings so exciting and important. Because Truveta Data
provides timely, complete EHR data – including prescriptions and
medication dispense data – that captures a large and diverse
patient population, we’ve been able to compare the head-to-head
effectiveness of these two important medications for weight loss in
advance of smaller randomized clinical trials. This study can help
to inform patient care and outcomes today, not months from
now.”
“As a practicing cardiologist and researcher, having the most
timely data to inform patient care is paramount,” said Ty Gluckman,
MD, MHA, FACC, FAHA, FASPC, cardiologist, Providence Health,
medical director at the Center for Cardiovascular Analytics,
Research, and Data Science (CARDS), Providence Heart Institute, and
an author on the paper. “Assessing the real-world effect of
semaglutide and tirzepatide on weight loss provides a glimpse into
what we may see with the more recently approved obesity drug
tirzepatide and how it might compare with semaglutide. Because
tirzepatide was only approved by the FDA in mid-2022 for type 2
diabetes, the ability to rigorously analyze its use (on- and
off-label) for a broad population of patients with overweight or
obesity, not just a subset captured in insurance databases, has the
power to greatly improve our understanding of how these agents are
being used in every day practice and the effect that they’re
having.”
This research was conducted using Truveta, which offers the most
complete, timely, and clean regulatory-grade electronic health
record (EHR) data from more than 100 million patients across more
than 30 US health systems. Truveta Data is representative of
inpatient and outpatient care from over 800 hospitals and 20,000
clinics. Truveta Data is updated daily for the most current view of
patient care. By providing a complete view of the patient journey,
including clinical notes and medical images, Truveta enables
researchers to accelerate therapy adoption, improve clinical
trials, and enhance patient care. These data were then analyzed
using Truveta Studio, which enables scientifically rigorous, fast,
and compliant analytics.
About Truveta
Truveta is a growing collective of health systems in the US with
a mission of Saving Lives with Data. Truveta delivers the most
complete, clean, and timely regulatory-grade EHR data for
scientifically rigorous research. Truveta is trusted by more than
60 leading life science, government, health system, and academic
and research organizations to accelerate adoption of new therapies,
improve clinical trials, and enhance patient care.
Truveta membership includes Providence, Advocate
Health, Trinity Health, Tenet Healthcare, Northwell
Health, AdventHealth, Baptist Health of Northeast
Florida, Baylor Scott & White Health, Bon Secours
Mercy Health, CommonSpirit Health, Hawaii Pacific
Health, HealthPartners, Henry Ford Health
System, HonorHealth, Inova, Lehigh Valley Health
Network, MedStar Health, Memorial Hermann Health
System, MetroHealth, Novant Health, Ochsner
Health, Premier Health, Saint Luke’s Health
System, Sanford Health, Sentara Healthcare, Texas
Health Resources, TriHealth, UnityPoint
Health, Virtua Health, and WellSpan Health.
- Truveta Research study published in JAMA Internal Medicine
compares tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and semaglutide (Ozempic) for
weight loss
Ellie Lampton
Truveta
2064092192
ellief@truveta.com