Semaglutide and tirzepatide, as the labels describe them
Semaglutide and tirzepatide are two different molecules sold under four brand names, and almost every real difference between them is written down in their FDA-approved prescribing information: what each drug is, what each is approved to treat, how it is taken and how high the dose goes. Where those documents do not answer a question, the answer here is that they do not.
Reviewed by Ellis Brandt. Sources checked September 2026.
This guide draws on the cited FDA-approved prescribing information and other FDA sources. It is not medical advice; discuss treatment with your clinician. See the medical disclaimer.
The four labels, compared
These are four separate approvals, not four names for one drug. Each row below is read from that product’s own label; nothing is carried across from another.
Drag the table sideways to read the remaining columns.
| Label | Active ingredient | Drug class, in the label’s words | Route and frequency | Highest dosage the label states | Initial U.S. approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozempic | semaglutide | a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist | Subcutaneous injection, once weekly | 2 mg once weekly | 2017 |
| Wegovy | semaglutide | a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist | Subcutaneous injection once weekly; the same label also covers Wegovy tablets, taken orally once daily | Injection: a maximum of 7.2 mg once weekly, for weight reduction in adults who tolerate 2.4 mg for at least 4 weeks and for whom further weight reduction is clinically indicated. Tablets: a recommended maintenance dosage of 25 mg once daily; the label states no separate maximum | 2017 |
| Mounjaro | tirzepatide | a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist | Subcutaneous injection, once weekly | 15 mg once weekly in adults; 10 mg once weekly in patients aged 10 and older | 2022 |
| Zepbound | tirzepatide | a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist | Subcutaneous injection, once weekly | 15 mg once weekly, for all indications | 2022 |
“Initial U.S. approval” is the year printed in each label’s own highlights. It names the first approval of the active ingredient, not of that particular dosage form — which is why the oral semaglutide label also prints 2017.
What each one is approved to treat
This is where the two molecules separate in practice, and it has nothing to do with receptors. Two of these labels are diabetes labels and two are weight labels, and a reader comparing semaglutide against tirzepatide is usually comparing a brand approved for one thing against a brand approved for another.
Ozempic (semaglutide) injection
Indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus; to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease; and to reduce the risk of sustained eGFR decline, end-stage kidney disease and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Wegovy (semaglutide)
Indicated in combination with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity, to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with established cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight; to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults and patients aged 12 and older with obesity, and in adults with overweight and at least one weight-related comorbid condition; and, for the injection only, for the treatment of noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis in adults. The label states that this last indication “is approved under accelerated approval based on improvement of MASH and fibrosis” and that continued approval “may be contingent upon the verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial.”
Mounjaro (tirzepatide)
Indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults and patients aged 10 and older with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for those events.
Zepbound (tirzepatide)
Indicated in combination with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults with obesity or adults with overweight and at least one weight-related comorbid condition, and to treat moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity.
Both weight labels carry a limitation of use in the same shape. Zepbound: “Coadministration with other tirzepatide-containing products or with any glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist is not recommended.” Wegovy: “Concomitant use of WEGOVY (semaglutide) tablets or WEGOVY (semaglutide) injection with other semaglutide-containing products or with any other GLP-1 receptor agonist is not recommended.”
What these labels do not tell you
A prescribing information document describes one product. It is not a comparison, and it is not written to be read beside another one. Three questions readers arrive with are therefore not answerable from the sources on this page, and this site will not fill them in with a plausible number.
Drag the table sideways to read the remaining columns.
| Question | What the labels give | Where that leaves it |
|---|---|---|
| Which molecule produces more weight reduction | One of the four does report a head-to-head trial. The Mounjaro label prints “Table 5: Results at Week 40 in a Trial of MOUNJARO versus Semaglutide 1 mg in Adult Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Added to Metformin” — SURPASS-2, a 40-week trial in 1,879 adults with type 2 diabetes on metformin. Body weight fell 5.7 kg on semaglutide 1 mg against 7.6, 9.3 and 11.2 kg on Mounjaro 5, 10 and 15 mg. It does not answer this question: the population is diabetic rather than being treated for obesity, the reported endpoint is HbA1c, and the comparator is semaglutide 1 mg — a diabetes dose, where the semaglutide label approved for weight reduction maintains at 2.4 mg once weekly. The other three labels report no head-to-head against the opposite molecule. | Unanswered by these four labels. |
| Whether one is better tolerated than the other | Each label reports adverse reaction rates from its own trials and prints an explicit warning that those rates cannot be compared across drugs. Not every trial in them is placebo-controlled — Ozempic reports comparisons against sitagliptin, exenatide extended-release and insulin glargine, and Mounjaro against semaglutide, dulaglutide and two insulins — but none of the four reports a tolerability comparison between semaglutide and tirzepatide at weight-reduction doses. | Answered as an absence on the side effect page |
| What a compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide preparation contains or doses like | Nothing. A compounded preparation has no FDA-approved label, so none of these four documents describes one. | No label exists to answer it. |
Answering the first would take a randomized trial of the two molecules at their weight-reduction doses in a weight-reduction population. SURPASS-2 is not that trial: it is a glycemic trial at a diabetes dose. Nor is subtracting one label’s placebo-controlled result from another’s, which is the comparison these labels forbid. The second has no answer at all, because the product it asks about is not one the FDA has reviewed.
Sources
Drag the table sideways to read the remaining columns.
| Label | Applicant on the label | SPL version | Label effective date | Where it was read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozempic (semaglutide) | Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Industries, LP | 20 | 2026-06-01 | DailyMed, set id adec4fd2-6858-4c99-91d4-531f5f2a2d79 |
| Wegovy (semaglutide) | Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Industries, LP | 19 | 2026-06-18 | DailyMed, set id ee06186f-2aa3-4990-a760-757579d8f77b |
| Mounjaro (tirzepatide) | Eli Lilly and Company | 40 | 2026-08-27 | DailyMed, set id d2d7da5d-ad07-4228-955f-cf7e355c8cc0 |
| Zepbound (tirzepatide) | Eli Lilly and Company | 40 | 2026-08-28 | DailyMed, set id 487cd7e7-434c-4925-99fa-aa80b1cc776b |
| Rybelsus and Ozempic tablets (semaglutide) | Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Industries, LP | 14 | 2026-01-30 | DailyMed, set id 27f15fac-7d98-4114-a2ec-92494a91da98 |
Every figure and quotation comes from the label’s own tables and text. Each label is the FDA-approved version that was current when it was read in September 2026, identified in the table by its version number and effective date.
See the providers
This page compares two molecules. If you have already settled on one, the boards list the providers who sell it and what each one publishes.
- Semaglutide providersprovider board
Compare semaglutide plans, pharmacy details and cancellation terms.
- Tirzepatide providersprovider board
Compare tirzepatide plans, pharmacy details and cancellation terms.
More, read from the same labels
- First-year GLP-1 costsresearch guide
A low monthly headline does not tell you what a year of treatment will cost. Compare the same medication and service package, then separate the total you expect to spend from the amount you must pay before treatment begins.
- Cancellation and refundsresearch guide
Canceling future membership charges, stopping an upcoming medication order and requesting a refund are three different requests. Get a written answer for each one that applies to you.
- Insurance denial documentsresearch guide
The next step depends on why coverage was denied. A missing document, a formulary restriction and an excluded benefit are different problems. Start with the written decision before paying someone to submit another request.
- Savings and cash-pay eligibilityresearch guide
A manufacturer savings card and a self-pay offer can have different eligibility rules, even for the same medicine. Match the offer to your coverage and exact product before using its advertised price in your budget.
- Verify your GLP-1 pharmacyresearch guide
The website taking your payment, the clinician prescribing and the pharmacy dispensing may be different businesses. Identify each one. A recognizable brand or a reassuring badge does not tell you who will fill the prescription.
- Changing GLP-1 providersresearch guide
Before ending your current service, establish what the new practice needs, what it will charge and when it can evaluate you. Transferring your records does not guarantee that another clinician will continue the same prescription.
- Weight regain after stoppingresearch guide
Weight regain occurred after treatment withdrawal in studies of semaglutide and tirzepatide. The findings support planning follow-up and affordability before an interruption, but they do not predict exactly what will happen to one person.
- How they workresearch guide
The receptor each molecule switches on, what the labels say that does to appetite, blood sugar and the stomach, and why one dose lasts a week.
- Is Ozempic insulin?research guide
What the Ozempic label calls semaglutide, how that differs from insulin, and where insulin appears on these labels as a separate medicine.
- Zepbound vs Ozempicresearch guide
Four brand names, two molecules and two kinds of approval: which of these products are the same drug, and what each one is actually approved to do.
- Dose escalation schedulesresearch guide
The starting dose, the escalation interval and the maximum dose each label sets, and why they are not interchangeable.
- Side effect ratesresearch guide
What each label reports for nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation — and the sentence every label prints above those numbers.
- Hair lossresearch guide
Which labels report hair loss, the rate against placebo where a trial measured it, and why two of them put no number on it.
- Fatigue and tirednessresearch guide
Which labels list fatigue, the rate against placebo where a trial measured it, and what each label counts as fatigue.
- Missed dose rulesresearch guide
The window each label gives for a late dose, and the minimum gap it requires when the injection day changes.
- Drug interactionsresearch guide
Insulin and sulfonylureas, oral medications, and the oral-contraceptive precaution that appears on two of these four labels and not the other two.
- Buying one onlineresearch guide
The agency's own warning signs for a telehealth GLP-1 seller, its 28-day vial rule, and what it says about drugs that arrive warm.
- Zepbound by doseresearch guide
What each Zepbound dose achieved in the trials printed in its label, what the label says about choosing a maintenance dose, and what the higher doses cost in side effects.
- Zepbound at 3 monthsresearch guide
What does the Zepbound label report about three-month weight loss and maintenance dosing?
- Injecting tirzepatideresearch guide
The injection sites, the rotation rule and the steps for the single-dose pen, the KwikPen and the vial and syringe, exactly as the FDA-approved Instructions for Use give them.
- Refrigeration and storageresearch guide
How cold each pen is kept, how many days it can spend at room temperature, and what the labels say about heat and freezing.
- Who should not take oneresearch guide
The boxed warning every one of these labels carries, the two contraindications, and which warnings appear on which product.
The difference in one line
Semaglutide’s labels call it a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. Tirzepatide’s labels call it a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist — one receptor more. Everything else on this page follows from what each label was approved to treat, not from that mechanism. What that extra receptor does is set out in how the two drugs work, and the four brand names are sorted out on Zepbound vs Ozempic.
Four labels, read September 2026. Versions and effective dates are printed in full at the foot of this page.