A diabetes drug called tirzepatide can help people lose up to 21% of their body weight, but the weight loss tends to stop increasing too soon — especially for those with type 2 diabetes.

Some diabetes and weight-loss drugs, like tirzepatide, can help people lose a lot of weight—up to nearly 18% more than a fake treatment over a year and a half—especially in those without diabetes, and they might also improve overall health.

A new weight-loss drug called tirzepatide might help people with obesity lose about 23% of their body weight in a year and a half — possibly even more than some weight-loss surgeries.

In adults who are overweight or obese but do not have diabetes, tirzepatide lowers both body mass index and blood sugar levels compared to other similar medications.

People who didn’t lose enough weight after weight-loss surgery might lose more with a drug called tirzepatide compared to another drug called semaglutide — about 15.5% vs 10.3% of their body weight in six months.

In people with type 2 diabetes, the medication tirzepatide at 10 mg and 15 mg improves how the body responds to insulin more than can be explained by weight loss alone, suggesting other biological mechanisms are involved.