Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) delivered better blood sugar control and weight loss than other GLP-1 medications when added early in Type 2 diabetes treatment, according to a new study published May 26 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The Surpass-Early trial enrolled 794 adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within the past four years whose disease was not adequately controlled with metformin, diet and exercise across 78 sites in 10 countries. Participants were randomly assigned to add either tirzepatide or other medications — most commonly semaglutide (Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic or Rybelsus) or dulaglutide (Lilly’s Trulicity).
After two years, patients taking tirzepatide saw meaningfully greater drops in blood sugar than those on other medications. Also, about 60% of tirzepatide patients reached normal blood sugar levels entirely — no longer in the diabetic range — compared to just 24% of those in the control group. Tirzepatide patients also lost significantly more weight, shedding an average of roughly 17 more pounds, with greater reductions in waist size as well.
Gastrointestinal side effects were the most common adverse events in both groups, consistent with the known profile of the GLP-1 drug class.
Researchers said the findings suggest that moving to tirzepatide earlier — when standard first-line care proves inadequate — may produce stronger and more sustained metabolic benefits than other available approaches.
The Surpass-Early results build on a growing body of evidence for tirzepatide’s advantages over other drugs in its class. A separate study published in Annals of Internal Medicine in April 2025 found Mounjaro outperformed high-dose Trulicity on both glucose control and weight loss over 40 weeks.
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