The SKINNY On The New Strength of Wegovy (7.2mg) vs Mounjaro (tirzepatide)
Graham Phillips
FRPharmS • Founder
First off: there’s no head-to-head trial of Wegovy 7.2 mg vs Mounjaro 10 mg. So I’ve compiled the best-available comparison across large trials plus published prices.
Wegovy 7.2 mg: not one pen (yet) so in the UK it’s taken as: 3 × 2.4 mg injections on the same day each week (need to change the needle each time and may need multiple pens).
Mounjaro 10 mg: 1 single weekly injection (ie standard single weekly dose format).
Which works best?
After 72 weeks (% of initial body weight lost)
Wegovy 7.2 mg
- ≥10%: 82.4%
- ≥15%: 66.5%
- ≥20%: 47.7%
- ≥25%: 31.2%
Tirzepatide 10 mg (Mounjaro)
- ≥5%: 88.9%
- ≥20%: 50.1%
- Mean % weight change: –19.5%.
Takeaway: they are broadly similar in terms of % weight loss
What about Side effects?
(this is where things get interesting)
Wegovy 7.2 mg
- Gastric adverse events: 70.8% (vs 61.2% on 2.4 mg)
- Dysaesthesia (“skin sensitivity”) : 22.9% on 7.2 mg vs 6.0% on 2.4 mg vs 0.5% placebo
Skin sensitivity (sunburn-like pain/tingling) is dose-related and clinically significant at the 7.2 mg dose.
Mounjaro / tirzepatide 10 mg
- GI adverse reactions: 56% (10 mg) vs 30% placebo
- Discontinuation due to GI: 3.3% (10 mg) vs 0.5% placebo
- Injection site reactions: 8% (10 mg) vs 2% placebo
Tirzepatide is not “side-effect free” (GI issues are common) but it doesn’t show the same large dysaesthesia (skin sensitivity) seen with semaglutide 7.2 mg
OK, so how do the costs compare?
UK private cost for (4-week supply)
Boots Online Doctor (weight-loss service page)
- Wegovy 7.2 mg: £285.97 per 4 weeks (3 × 2.4 mg pens)
- Mounjaro 10 mg: £302.97 per 4 weeks (1 pen)
So there’s very little in it!
My real-world conclusion: Both are pretty much equally effective. Costs are very similar but Wegovy requires 3 injections and there are significantly more side effects. Mounjaro wins!
But much more fundamentally: do you really need these high doses, which cost so much money and the side-effects are much higher.
My advice? Start LOW and Go SLOW.
Focus on nutrition not GLP-1s
About Graham Phillips
Graham Phillips is a registered pharmacist (FRPharmS) with over 35 years of experience. Frustrated by “pill for every ill” medicine, he founded ProLongevity to help people reverse chronic disease and lose weight through precision lifestyle medicine.
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