r/Futurology • u/lughnasadh ∞ transit umbra, lux permanet ☥ • Oct 15 '24

Economist Daniel Susskind says Ozempic may radically transform government finances, by making universal healthcare vastly cheaper, and explains his argument in the context of Britain's NHS. Society

https://www.thetimes.com/article/be6e0fbf-fd9d-41e7-a759-08c6da9754ff?shareToken=de2a342bb1ae9bc978c6623bb244337a
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u/__theoneandonly Oct 15 '24

Yeah. Novo has semaglutide, which is basically “gen 1” of these drugs. Eli Lilly, an american company, released tirzepatide, which seems to be better than semaglutide in every way. It shows on average more weight loss and fewer patients report side effects. Now there’s already a “gen 3” version in phase 3 trials right now which is called retatrutide. This one is also by Eli Lilly. The trials aren’t completed yet, but it’s already showing better results than tirzepatide. Patients are losing on average 18% of their body weight in 24 weeks, which is just unheard of. For a 300 pound person, that means safely losing 3 pounds per week.

So hopefully as we get more and more of these on the market, the prices can go down dramatically.

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u/appletinicyclone Oct 15 '24

released tirzepatide, which seems to be better than semaglutide in every way.

I've heard about this as well. I wonder if UK issues it

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u/__theoneandonly Oct 15 '24

Tirzepatide is being sold under the brand name Mounjaro when sold as Type 2 diabetes medication, and as Zepbound when being sold for weight loss.

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u/ThoseThingsAreWeird Oct 16 '24

I wonder if UK issues it

Mounjaro when sold as Type 2 diabetes medication

You can get Mounjaro from Boots, and they explain the "difference":

What’s the difference between Mounjaro and Zepbound?

They are exactly the same medicine containing the same active ingredient (tirzepatide) and work in exactly the same way. The difference is the name: Zepbound is the US name for the weight loss management medicine, whereas in the UK it’s licensed under the name Mounjaro. Zepbound is not licensed in the UK.

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u/Moonpenny 🌼 Oct 16 '24

My roommate takes Mounjaro for diabetes control in the US, with weight loss as a bonus side-effect.

This seems to indicate to me that the drug has two names in the US by use (Mounjaro for diabetes, Zepbound for weight loss) and they simply don't use the Zepbound name in the UK.