There are now more GLP-1 products than most people can keep straight, and the names overlap confusingly — two brand names for the same molecule, injectable and oral versions of the same drug, and a pipeline that gets written about as though it were on pharmacy shelves. This is the complete reference as of August 2026: what each drug is, what it is approved for, and how you take it.
Semaglutide products
- Wegovy — semaglutide injection, approved for chronic weight management. Weekly. Standard maintenance dose 2.4 mg.
- Wegovy HD — semaglutide 7.2 mg injection, approved March 2026. For patients who tolerate 2.4 mg and have plateaued.
- Wegovy pill — oral semaglutide 25 mg, launched January 5, 2026. Daily, empty stomach, no more than four ounces of water, wait 30 minutes.
- Ozempic — semaglutide injection approved for type 2 diabetes. Same molecule as Wegovy, different approved indication and dosing range.
- Rybelsus — oral semaglutide approved for type 2 diabetes, at lower doses than the Wegovy pill.
Tirzepatide products
- Zepbound — tirzepatide injection approved for chronic weight management and for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Weekly, maintenance doses 5 mg to 15 mg.
- Mounjaro — tirzepatide injection approved for type 2 diabetes. Same molecule as Zepbound.
Tirzepatide is a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist rather than a pure GLP-1 agonist, which is why it produces larger average weight reductions than semaglutide in head-to-head data.
Other approved options
- Foundayo (orforglipron) — approved April 1, 2026. A once-daily small-molecule GLP-1 pill with no food or water timing restrictions.
- Saxenda (liraglutide) — daily injection approved for weight management. Older and less effective than the weekly agents, but still available.
- Victoza (liraglutide) — the diabetes counterpart to Saxenda.
Why one molecule has two brand names
Ozempic and Wegovy are both semaglutide. Mounjaro and Zepbound are both tirzepatide. The difference is the FDA-approved indication: the diabetes brand and the obesity brand are approved for different conditions, at different dosing ranges, and are covered differently by insurance.
This is not a marketing quirk — it determines coverage. A plan that excludes weight-loss drugs may cover Ozempic for a patient with type 2 diabetes while denying Wegovy for the same person if the indication is weight. Which brand you are prescribed is a coverage question as much as a clinical one.
Under review and in the pipeline
CagriSema (semaglutide + cagrilintide) is under FDA review with approval expected later in 2026.
Retatrutide, MariTide, survodutide, mazdutide, ecnoglutide, pemvidutide, and petrelintide all remain investigational and are not FDA-approved. They cannot be legally prescribed or compounded for weight management. If a provider offers you any of them, that is a reason to look elsewhere.
Compounded versions are a separate category
Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide contain the same molecules but are not FDA-approved products. They are prepared by licensed compounding pharmacies and are not evaluated for bioequivalence to the branded versions. They are substantially cheaper, and that trade-off is the central decision for most cash-paying patients.
Choosing between them
For most people the practical choice narrows to three: tirzepatide if you want maximal weight loss and can inject, semaglutide if you tolerate it better or have coverage for it specifically, and orforglipron if injections are a barrier. Everything else is either a diabetes indication, an older agent, or not yet available.
Read our semaglutide vs tirzepatide comparison for the head-to-head detail.