Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, Zepbound: GLP-1 medication names explained

Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, Trulicity, and a growing list of others: the names around GLP-1 medications are genuinely confusing, and not because you’re missing something. The same drug shows up under different brand names, one brand family covers more than one use, and one of the most talked-about options isn’t even on the market yet.

This is a plain-language guide to which name is which. It’s general information, not medical advice. Which medication suits anyone is a question for them and their doctor. What follows is just the map: what these names refer to, and how they relate to each other.

Key takeaways

• A brand name (Ozempic) and an active ingredient (semaglutide) are different things, and one ingredient can have several brands.
• Semaglutide is sold as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus. Tirzepatide is sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound.
• The same active ingredient can use different brand names by indication in one country and a single brand for multiple indications elsewhere.
• Tirzepatide acts on two hormone receptors; the older GLP-1 drugs act on one. Retatrutide, which acts on three, is still in trials.
• Which name is approved for what varies by country and changes over time.

A brand name is not the same as the drug

Most of the confusion clears up with one distinction. The brand name is the label a company sells the medicine under. The active ingredient is the actual drug inside. Semaglutide is an active ingredient; Ozempic is one brand that contains it. Here’s the quick cheat sheet:

The “common approved use” column is a shortcut, not a universal rule. Approvals differ by country, and the Mounjaro and Zepbound rows make the current US, EU, and UK distinction explicit.

Semaglutide: Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus

Semaglutide, made by Novo Nordisk, is the active ingredient behind three brand names. Ozempic is the weekly injection prescribed for type 2 diabetes. Wegovy is the same ingredient at higher doses, approved for chronic weight management. Rybelsus is semaglutide in tablet form, taken daily for type 2 diabetes.

So three brands, one molecule, with different doses, formats, and approved uses. Semaglutide belongs to the original class here, the GLP-1 receptor agonists, which the agonist section below explains.

Tirzepatide: Mounjaro and Zepbound

Tirzepatide, made by Eli Lilly, sits behind two brand names. In the United States, Mounjaro is approved for type 2 diabetes, while Zepbound is approved for chronic weight management and moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. In the EU and UK, Mounjaro itself is authorised for both type 2 diabetes and weight management under the relevant eligibility criteria. Both brands are weekly injections. Brand names, indications, and availability vary by country.

What separates tirzepatide from the semaglutide group is structural rather than promotional: it acts on two hormone receptors instead of one. More on that below.

The earlier GLP-1 medicines: Trulicity, Victoza, Saxenda

These came before the current wave and are still in use. Trulicity (dulaglutide) is a weekly injection for type 2 diabetes. Victoza and Saxenda are both liraglutide: Victoza for type 2 diabetes, Saxenda for weight management, both taken as a daily injection rather than weekly. When older articles talk about “GLP-1 drugs,” these are often the ones they mean.

Retatrutide, and what “agonist” actually means

You’ll see these medicines called “GLP-1 receptor agonists,” and tirzepatide called a “dual agonist.” An agonist is just a molecule that switches on a particular receptor, like a key turning a lock. The number in front tells you how many different hormone receptors it targets.

• Single agonists act on the GLP-1 receptor alone. Semaglutide, liraglutide, and dulaglutide are in this group.
• Dual agonists act on two. Tirzepatide targets the GLP-1 receptor and the GIP receptor, another gut hormone.
• Triple agonists act on three. Retatrutide, also from Eli Lilly, is designed to target GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon receptors.

Retatrutide is the one to be careful about, because it’s easy to read about as if you could pick it up tomorrow. At the time of writing it’s still in clinical trials and not approved, so it has no consumer brand name yet. Other GLP-1-based medicines are working through trials too, so this list will keep growing.

So what actually differs between them?

Set the marketing aside and the medicines differ in a handful of concrete ways:

• Active ingredient and maker. Semaglutide and liraglutide come from Novo Nordisk; tirzepatide, dulaglutide, and retatrutide from Eli Lilly.
• Receptors targeted. One, two, or three, as above.
• How it’s taken. A weekly injection, a daily injection, or a daily tablet.
• What it’s approved to treat where you live. Type 2 diabetes, weight management, or both.

This guide deliberately doesn’t rank them or weigh in on how well they work. Effectiveness, side effects, and which option fits a given person are exactly the things to work through with a doctor, not from an article.

What the names mean for your log

If you keep a shot journal, the brand-versus-ingredient split is worth getting right. Logging the active ingredient keeps your history readable even if your prescription’s brand changes. Jabalog records the two most common ingredients, semaglutide and tirzepatide, by ingredient, and shows brand names like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound only so you can recognize which one is yours.

Fewer drugs than names

There are fewer medicines here than there are names for them. Semaglutide and tirzepatide account for most of the brands you’ll hear about, the diabetes and weight versions usually go by different labels, and newer options like retatrutide are still being studied. For anything past telling the names apart, including whether a given medication is right for you, talk to your doctor or pharmacist, and keep in mind that approvals and availability shift from country to country and over time.