GLP-1 agonists
Compounds that copy GLP-1, the gut hormone released after a meal that tells your brain you have eaten.
This is the one group on the site where the science is settled enough to argue about details rather than whether anything works at all. Semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide have large trials, approved labels and years of prescribing behind them, and the weight numbers from those trials are the reason everything else on this page exists. For what follows discontinuation, see the weight-regain evidence.
The rest of the list is the race to beat them. Triple agonists that add glucagon, oral versions trying to escape the needle, and combinations pairing a GLP-1 with an amylin analog. Some are deep in phase 3 and some have never been in a person, and the cards below say which is which.
The practical differences worth checking before you compare anything: how often it is dosed, whether the schedule builds up slowly to keep nausea manageable, and whether the version being sold is the approved drug or a research-grade copy of it.
A weekly shot that copies three fullness and fat-burning signals, with some of the largest weight losses in trials.
The Mounjaro and Zepbound drug: a weekly shot that works two appetite and blood-sugar signals at once.
The Ozempic and Wegovy drug: a weekly shot that turns up your 'I'm full' signal so you eat less.
Works on appetite and metabolism together, much like survodutide. Approved in China, in trials elsewhere.
Copies your fullness signal and pushes metabolism to burn more. Trials show weight loss and better fatty liver.
Cagrilintide and semaglutide in one weekly shot, hitting two separate fullness pathways at once.
Copies the CagriSema idea in one vial. Neither half is approved, and the combination has never been trialled.
A GLP-1 pill that survives digestion, so there are no needles and no empty-stomach rule.
The Saxenda and Victoza drug: the same fullness signal as semaglutide, shorter-acting and taken daily.
The compound behind the 'GLP-4' label on injectable vials. The real thing is an experimental once-daily capsule.
An antibody carrying two GLP-1 peptides that also blocks the GIP receptor. Injected once a month.
A once-weekly experimental injection from The United Laboratories, licensed to Novo Nordisk, that acts on GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors for weight loss.
A weekly GLP-1 approved in 2014. Less effective than rivals and mixed before every injection, so its maker pulled it.
Two different 'stop eating' signals, GLP-1 and amylin, built into one molecule. Tested as a pill and as a shot.
A once-monthly GLP-1 and GIP dual agonist from Ascletis. Every comparison with tirzepatide so far comes from mice, monkeys or a test tube.
Ascletis's triple agonist, built as a weekly tablet and a monthly depot injection. Mouse and monkey data only, with INDs expected by the end of 2026.
The human GLP-1 hormone itself, not a modified copy, so it is injected three times a day. Approved in China.
Pfizer's long-acting GLP-1 shot from the Metsera deal, tested weekly and monthly and now in phase 3.
A triple agonist that swaps glucagon for a different third target: the NPY2 receptor. A 344-person dose-finding trial is running, and no efficacy number has ever been published.
An every-two-weeks GLP-1 injection from Gan & Lee, nearly identical to semaglutide. In phase 3 in China and licensed to Menarini for Europe.
A weekly shot that works the same two appetite signals as tirzepatide.
A GLP-1 pill whose development was stopped over a liver-injury signal.
A GLP-1 drug approved for type 2 diabetes only. Weight loss is much smaller than people expect from this family.
A once-weekly GLP-1 from Sciwind Biosciences. It is approved in China and not in the US.
Merck's weekly GLP-1/glucagon agonist for fatty liver disease, an oxyntomodulin copy fused to an antibody tail.
The first GLP-1 drug, copied from Gila monster saliva. Still approved, and largely left behind by newer drugs.
Gan & Lee's once-weekly GLP-1 tablet, a peptide rather than a small molecule, in its first human trial since September 2026.
Hengrui and Kailera's triple agonist, a different molecule from retatrutide, with 12-week phase 1 data.
A daily GLP-1 for type 2 diabetes. A real approved drug that was outsold and withdrawn from the US market.
A GLP-1/GIP prodrug built to release slowly enough for one shot a month. Phase 1, eight people's worth of data.
A gut hormone that weakly activates GLP-1 and glucagon receptors, the parent of mazdutide; never developed as a drug, with only small short human studies.
Curbs appetite and pushes metabolism to burn more. Studied for weight loss and fatty-liver disease.
Hengrui and Kailera's weekly GLP-1/GIP shot, built to beat tirzepatide and now in global phase 3.
Works the same two appetite signals as tirzepatide. In trials as both a shot and a pill.
A weekly GLP-1 and glucagon injection for fatty liver disease: a small peptide on a large PEG, close to efinopegdutide. Phase 2 so far.
GLP-1 appetite control built to last long enough for one injection a month.
One head-to-head trial, three pivotal trials, and why their headline weight-loss figures are not directly comparable.
In STEP 8, semaglutide produced more weight loss than liraglutide; liraglutide offers generic availability and daily dosing.
One receptor, then two, then three, and the numbers climb with them. Only two of the three steps have a head to head behind them.
Tirzepatide won the head-to-head at 20.2 percent against 13.7. The 47 percent figure everyone quotes is relative; the absolute gap is 6.5 points, from an open-label trial.
Retatrutide's 28.3 percent is being set against tirzepatide's 22.5 percent. Different trials, different lengths, and no trial yet comparing the two directly.
Weekly dual-receptor CT-388 and monthly GLP-1 zovaglutide have not been compared head to head; their trial results use different measures and follow-up periods.
Common questions
What is a GLP-1 agonist?
A GLP-1 agonist copies GLP-1, the gut hormone released after a meal that slows stomach emptying and tells your brain you have eaten. That combination usually lowers appetite and blood sugar.
Which GLP-1 agonists are FDA approved?
Semaglutide, tirzepatide, liraglutide and dulaglutide have approved products in the United States. Several others on this page are still investigational and only exist in trials or the research-chemical market.
How are GLP-1 agonists different from each other?
They differ in which receptors they hit (GLP-1 only, GLP-1 plus GIP, or triple agonists), how long they last in the body, and how they are taken. Open any two compounds in the compare tool to see those differences side by side.