Semaglutide (Ozempic) vs Tirzepatide (Mounjaro)
Learn the major differences between Ozempic (Semaglutide) and Mounjaro (Tirzepatide)
![Semaglutide (Ozempic) vs Tirzepatide (Mounjaro)](/content/images/size/w1200/2024/07/genes.webp)
The names are complicated but what they do is the same – Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 ("GLP1") receptor agonists suppress hunger and help with weight loss.
Check out our quick explainer
There are many companies making them too – Ozempic is produced by Novo Nordisk, and Mounjaro is made by Eli Lilly (these are the two biggest players in the GLP1 space, as of right now).
It can be hard to tell the difference between these drugs (and their ingredients), and the effects they might have or not have on the body. Let's make it easy.
Active Ingredients/How it works
Ozempic is the most popular GLP1 Receptor Agonist. In plain English, it's a drug that mimics the a naturally occurring hormone in your body which your body uses to signal fullness ("satiety").
Mounjaro is a slightly different formulation – it contains both a GLP1 receptor agonist and a Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide ("GIP"). Both GLP1s and GIP encourage your body to produce insulin.
You can read more of the research on what makes "dual agonists" like Mounjaro special below:
![](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/corehtml/pmc/pmcgifs/pmc-card-share.jpg?_=0)
Both GLP1s (Ozempic) and GLP1 + GIP "dual agonists" (Mounjaro) do the roughly similar things in the body – they encourage the production of Insulin, and act as synthetic versions of hormones your body produces naturally when you are full.
Known side effects
The known side effects of Ozempic and Mounjaro don't differ all that much.
In general, all the common and serious side effects are shared between both drugs.
Both (Ozempic and Mounjaro)
- Common side effects
- Nausea
- Vomitting
- Diarrhea
- Stomach (abdominal) pain
- Constipation
- Serious, rarer side effects (i.e. stop using and contact your health care provider)
- Inflammation of your pancreas (pancreatitis), severe stomach pain
- Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) – various symptoms including dizziness, lightheadedness, blurred vision, anxiety, and more.
- Serious Allergic reactions
- Kidney failure and kidney problems
- Changes in vision
- Gallbladder problems – upper stomach pain, fever, jaundice, clay colored stools
Mounjaro only
- Common side effects
- Decreased appetite (this is somewhat expected)
- Indigestion
Approvals
Ozempic is FDA approved for Type 2 diabetes treatment (it was approved in 2017):
![](https://www.fda.gov/themes/custom/preview/img/FDA-Social-Graphic.png)
See also the "Orange book" entry for Semaglutide 2.5mg
Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) is approved for Type 2 diabetes treatment as well:
![](https://www.fda.gov/themes/custom/preview/img/FDA-Social-Graphic.png)
See also the "Orange book" entry for Tirzepatide 2.5mg
But remember – at present neither Ozempic or Mounjaro are approved for weight control – only Wegovy is:
![](https://www.fda.gov/themes/custom/preview/img/FDA-Social-Graphic.png)
Wegovy is also approved for heart disease:
![](https://www.fda.gov/themes/custom/preview/img/FDA-Social-Graphic.png)
Wegovy is more similar to Ozempic in that it is only a GLP1 receptor agonist (Semaglutide) than it is to Mounjaro. It's not an unreasonable leap to think that the other drugs with the same active ingredients have similar effects.