Category · GLP-1 & weight loss
GLP-1 & weight-loss drugs: what works.
The most-hyped corner of medicine right now — from FDA-approved blockbusters to gray-market research peptides. Here's what each one actually has behind it.
These mostly work by copying gut hormones called incretins (signals your body releases after eating that curb appetite and steady blood sugar). The class spans two very different worlds: approved drugs with large human trials — semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy), tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound), liraglutide — and newer or gray-market agents still proving themselves, like retatrutide, cagrilintide, CagriSema, orforglipron, amycretin, and VK2735. Each one below is graded on its actual human evidence.
Important: "approved" is not the same as the version sold online. A "research use only" GLP-1 powder is an unapproved drug, not a prescribed or pharmacy product — see the gray market and our GLP-1 explainer.
- 10/10 · Established Liraglutide Type 2 diabetes, chronic weight management, and cardiovascular risk reduction.
- 10/10 · Established Semaglutide Type 2 diabetes, chronic weight management, and cardiovascular risk reduction.
- 10/10 · Established Tirzepatide Type 2 diabetes, chronic weight management, and obstructive sleep apnea.
- 9/10 · Strong CagriSema Chronic weight management in obesity or overweight with a weight-related comorbidity, with and without type 2 diabetes
- 9/10 · Strong Orforglipron Chronic weight management (approved) and type 2 diabetes (Phase 3, not yet approved).
- 7/10 · Moderate Cagrilintide Chronic weight management in overweight/obesity, with and without type 2 diabetes
- 7/10 · Moderate Ecnoglutide Glycemic control in type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management in overweight/obesity.
- 7/10 · Moderate Mazdutide Chronic weight management and type 2 diabetes; exploratory liver-fat work.
- 7/10 · Moderate Retatrutide Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver disease (MASH).
- 7/10 · Moderate Survodutide Obesity, MASH (fatty liver disease) with fibrosis, and type 2 diabetes.
- 7/10 · Moderate Tesofensine Obesity/weight loss (its main investigational use); also studied as Tesomet for hypothalamic obesity and Prader-Willi syndrome; originally trialed for Parkinson's/Alzheimer's disease.
- 7/10 · Moderate VK2735 Obesity/overweight and metabolic disease (weight management); not a muscle-building agent
- 6/10 · Preliminary Amycretin Overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes
Reading this class honestly
A handful here have genuinely strong human trials; many of the newest are still mid-development and graded accordingly. For how the grades work see how we grade, and for the women-specific angle (PCOS, pregnancy cautions) see the women's page. Browse everything in the full ledger.