GLP-1 medications: the approved options in one place

What are GLP-1 medications?

GLP-1 medications are prescription medicines that act on the receptor for GLP-1, a hormone released by the gut that helps regulate appetite and food intake.³ They are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. Tirzepatide, in Mounjaro and Zepbound, also acts on the receptor for a second gut hormone, GIP.³ Orforglipron, in Foundayo, is a small molecule rather than a peptide, which is why it can be a tablet with no fasting rules.⁷

The first GLP-1 medicines were approved for type 2 diabetes.¹ Depending on the product, approved uses now also include weight management, lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke, lowering the risk of kidney decline in people with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, obstructive sleep apnea and a liver condition called MASH.^3,4,6

All are prescription-only. All but twice-daily exenatide carry a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors, based on rodent studies of GLP-1 medicines, and for every one of them the most common side effects are stomach-related, such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation.^4,6,7,11 Our guide to GLP-1 side effects covers them in detail.

GLP-1 medications list: every US brand, September 2026

Every GLP-1 medicine that can be prescribed in the US as of September 23, 2026, except combinations with insulin, from Drugs@FDA and each product's prescribing information. Approved uses are summarized; each label has the exact wording.

Byetta and Bydureon BCise, AstraZeneca's exenatide brands, are no longer marketed in the US, and FDA has withdrawn their approvals (Byetta's as of September 3, 2025).¹³

Generic, discontinued and renamed GLP-1s

Generics. The first generic versions of Victoza were approved in December 2024 and of Saxenda in August 2025; generic twice-daily exenatide was approved in November 2024.¹ No generic semaglutide can be sold in the US yet: the only one in Drugs@FDA, from Apotex, has tentative approval, which does not allow marketing.¹

Discontinued. Novo Nordisk is discontinuing Saxenda in the US, with last shipments to wholesalers in late January 2027, and says the decision is not the result of any safety or quality concern.¹² Byetta and Bydureon BCise are no longer marketed, as noted above.¹³

Renamed. The newer Rybelsus tablets (1.5, 4 and 9 mg) were renamed Ozempic tablets in January 2026. The original Rybelsus strengths (3, 7 and 14 mg) share the same label, and the two are not interchangeable milligram for milligram.⁵

Types of GLP-1 medications

Grouped by the medicine inside each brand. Half-life, the time it takes for the amount in the body to halve, is one reason some are taken once a week and others once or twice a day.^2,10

By how they are taken: Mounjaro, Zepbound, Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity are weekly injections; Victoza, Saxenda and generic liraglutide are daily injections; generic exenatide is injected twice a day; the four tablets are taken once a day.

Is there an oral GLP-1?

Yes. Four GLP-1 tablets are approved in the US. Three contain semaglutide, the medicine in Ozempic and Wegovy, and have strict rules about food and water; Foundayo contains a different medicine, orforglipron, and its label has no such rules.^5,6,7

Compare them in Wegovy pill vs injection and Foundayo vs Wegovy. None of the four contains tirzepatide, as our guide to whether there is a Mounjaro pill explains. In the UK, the Wegovy tablet and Foundayo are approved but not currently available on the NHS.^17,18

Which GLP-1 medication is best? What the trials show

There is no single best GLP-1 medication. Each is approved for particular conditions and was tested in particular people, and the right one depends on your health, your other medicines, how you want to take it and your prescriber's judgment. What the trials offer is averages: these are the main weight-management results printed in each US label, all in adults without type 2 diabetes.

Listed alphabetically, from each label's analysis of all randomized participants, not only those who stayed on treatment. These are separate trials of different lengths, so they are not head-to-head results and do not rank the medicines. Each figure is a group average, not a prediction for any one person, and where lower doses were tested they produced smaller average losses.

One trial, SURMOUNT-5, has compared two weight-management injections directly: in this open-label trial, adults with obesity but without type 2 diabetes, on the highest dose each tolerated, lost 20.2% of their body weight on average over 72 weeks on tirzepatide (Zepbound; sold as Mounjaro in the UK) and 13.7% on semaglutide (Wegovy).¹⁴ In type 2 diabetes, SURPASS-2 compared tirzepatide with semaglutide 1 mg, an Ozempic dose, over 40 weeks in adults taking metformin: HbA1c fell by 2.0 to 2.3 points on tirzepatide and 1.9 on semaglutide.² More in semaglutide vs tirzepatide.

Side effects matter as much as averages. For every GLP-1 they are mostly stomach-related and most common while the dose is being stepped up, and each label reports its own rates from its own trials, which cannot be compared directly.

What the right choice depends on

• What it is approved for: type 2 diabetes, weight management, heart or kidney risk, sleep apnea or liver disease.
• Your other health conditions and medicines, including insulin or other diabetes medicines.
• How you would take it: a weekly or daily injection, or a daily tablet with or without food rules.
• How the first weeks feel, since stomach side effects are most common while the dose is stepped up.
• Coverage and cost, which vary by plan and pharmacy and change often.

Compare GLP-1 medications side by side

Detailed comparisons of the pairs people ask about most, each built from the labels and the published trials.

GLP-1 medications that are not approved

Some much-discussed medicines are still investigational. Retatrutide, from Eli Lilly, is not approved: FDA says it is not a component of any FDA-approved drug, has not been found safe and effective for any condition, and cannot legally be used in compounding.¹⁵ CagriSema, Novo Nordisk's weekly combination of semaglutide and cagrilintide, has been submitted to the FDA but is not approved.^19,15

FDA also warns about products sold online "for research purposes"; they are not approved medicines.¹⁵ This page covers approved medicines only.

GLP-1 medications in the UK

A few differences for UK readers:

• Mounjaro covers weight management too. The MHRA authorised it for weight management on November 8, 2023, so in the UK one brand is used for both type 2 diabetes and weight loss.¹⁶
• The Wegovy tablet was approved on June 11, 2026, and is not currently available on the NHS.¹⁷
• Foundayo was authorised on August 10, 2026, the first approval in Europe, for weight management and, unlike in the US, type 2 diabetes. It is not currently available through the NHS.¹⁸
• NHS access to the weight-management injections follows NICE guidance; see Mounjaro vs Wegovy for the details.

Questions to bring to your prescriber

Whichever medicines you are weighing up, these help; there is more in preparing for a GLP-1 appointment.

1. Which GLP-1 medications are approved for my condition, and which would you suggest for me, and why?
2. Would a weekly injection, a daily injection or a tablet suit me best?
3. How will we decide whether it is working, and when will we review it?
4. Which side effects should I contact you about?
5. What should I do if I miss a dose of the one I'm prescribed?
6. Does my plan cover it, and is there a generic or lower-cost option?