Why Cagrisema and Retatrutide are a More Superior Option Than Tirzepatide

In recent times we’re witnessing a proper boom in weight loss medication. Even though there are a lot of viable, FDA-approved options, scientists continue to work on new, more effective, and less harmful ones.

When it comes to weight loss and diabetes battling peptides, first came semaglutide. According to many studies, Semaglutide was the undisputed champion promoting both weight loss, blood sugar control and cardiovascular health. 

Shortly after, along came tirzepatide which researchers proved to be even more effective than semaglutide. A gigantic human test subject study, involving 18,386 individuals, overwhelmingly showed that out of those treated with tirzepatide, 85% experienced a weight loss of 5% and greater. While the semaglutide group had “only” 66.5%.

But, our story doesn’t end there! Lately, there’s been more and more talk about retatrutide, some even deeming it as “a triumph over obesity,” and cagrisema said to be even more effective than retatrutide. But is it really so?

How do these three compare between each other, what did the studies show us, is there any truth to these claims?

We’re going to answer all of these, and more, in today’s post, so stay tuned.

Tirzepatide – Overview

Tirzepatide is one of the latest FDA-approved type 2 diabetes treatments. Numerous clinical studies demonstrated its effectiveness in weight loss, improved glycemic control and an overall weight reduction in patients. Of course, every peptide sold on our website is for research purposes only.

Retatrutide – Overview

Retatrutide is a new incretin mimetic agent – a gut derived peptide secreted after food intake, which is supposed to stimulate insulin secretion and hyperglycaemia. Many different animal studies proved it leads to a significant weight loss in test subjects, even greater than that of tirzepatide.

There was also a double-blind study involving obese and overweight patients divided into two groups – retatrutide and placebo. After 48 weeks, the results showed that 60-100% of all treated patients experienced weight loss, 72% achieved normoglycemia, and only 13 individuals (out of 338) experienced any significant side effects.

Cagrisema Overview

Developed by Novo Nordisk, cagrisema is actually a combination of GLP-1 receptor agonist medication and cagrilintide. Together with insulin, cagrisema successfully suppresses hunger, makes people feel full longer and might even prove to be a long-term solution for people with diabetes 2.

Even though its based on semaglutide (adopting GLP-1 receptor agonist role), clinical studies showed its much more effective – patient’s average decrease in body fat was 15.6% while on cagrisema, and “only” 5.1% on semaglutide.

Tirzepatide VS Retratutide VS Cagrisema – Effectiveness

The main difference between tirzepatide and retatrutide is in their structure:

• Tirzeaptide – this peptide is a combination of as much as three active components – liraglutide, GLP-1 agonist and oxyntomodulin analogue
• Retratutide – while retratutide is composed of only one active component called exenatide
• Cagrisema – cagrisema is a combination of GLP-1 receptor agonist and cagrilintide

Of course, these drugs offer similar effects – managing diabetes, increasing insulin production and lowering blood glucose. 

But, as we’ve seen in the recent studies, retatrutide has been shown to reduce appetite more effectively than tirzepatide; also being able to manage hunger and the feeling of fullness better. And patients using cagrisema experienced an even greater loss due to the drug’s ability to suppress appetite further.

Studies also showed their effectiveness in:

• HbA1c levels – retatrutide and cagrisema had better results in lowering the HbA1c, primary indicator of diabetes 
• Safety – retatrutide and cagrisema are generally better tolerated, as compared to tirzepatide, and does not increase the risk of hypoglycemia (or weight gain) as some other medication would. They are also less aggressive to the application site, making the process of administration more manageable for the patient.

So, judging by the clinical results we have thus far, both retratutide and cagrisema are a more superior option for managing diabetes, and getting a firm grip on weight control in obese individuals.

Resources

1. “Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity” Authors: Ania M. Jastreboff, M.D., Ph.D., Louis J. Aronne, M.D., Nadia N. Ahmad, M.D., M.P.H., Sean Wharton, M.D., Pharm.D., Lisa Connery, M.D., Breno Alves, M.D., Arihiro Kiyosue, M.D., Ph.D., Shuyu Zhang, M.S., BingLiu, Ph.D., Mathijs C. Bunck, M.D., Ph.D., and Adam Stefanski, M.D., Ph.D. Published June 4, 2022 N Engl J Med 2022;387:205-216 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2206038
2. World Obesity Federation. World obesity atlas 2022 (https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/world-obesity-atlas-2022).
3. Aronne LJ, Hall KD, M Jakicic J, et al. Describing the weight-reduced state: physiology, behavior, and interventions. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2021;29:Suppl 1:S9-S24.
4. Wharton S, Lau DCW, Vallis M, et al. Obesity in adults: a clinical practice guideline. CMAJ2020;192(31):E875-E891.
5. Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, Calanna S, et al. Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity. N Engl J Med 2021;384:989-1002
6. Rosenstock J, Wysham C, Frías JP, et al. Efficacy and safety of a novel dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist tirzepatide in patients with type 2 diabetes (SURPASS-1): a double-blind, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet 2021;398:143-155.
7. Frías JP, Davies MJ, Rosenstock J, et al. Tirzepatide versus semaglutide once weekly in patients with type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med 2021;385:503-515.
8. Davies M, Færch L, Jeppesen OK, et al. Semaglutide 2·4 mg once a week in adults with overweight or obesity, and type 2 diabetes (STEP 2): a randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet 2021;397:971-984.
9. Rubino D, Abrahamsson N, Davies M, et al. Effect of continued weekly subcutaneous semaglutide vs placebo on weight loss maintenance in adults with overweight or obesity: the STEP 4 randomized clinical trial. JAMA 2021;325:1414-1425.
10. “Triple–Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity — A Phase 2 Trial” Authors: Ania M. Jastreboff, M.D., Ph.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1446-0991, Lee M. Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D., Juan P. Frías, M.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9486-1255, Qiwei Wu, Ph.D., Yu Du, Ph.D., Sirel Gurbuz, M.D., Tamer Coskun, M.D., Ph.D., Axel Haupt, M.D., Ph.D., Zvonko Milicevic, M.D., and Mark L. Hartman, M.D. Published June 26, 2023 N Engl J Med 2023;389:514-526 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2301972
11. Finan B, Yang B, Ottaway N, et al. A rationally designed monomeric peptide triagonist corrects obesity and diabetes in rodents. Nat Med 2015;21:27-36.