Fact check: How sucessful has semaglutide /cyanocobalamin been for weight loss compard to Wegovy, Ozempic, tirzepatide Zepbound, Mounjaro, and liraglutide Saxenda, Victoza?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the analyses provided, semaglutide/cyanocobalamin shows mixed effectiveness compared to other weight loss medications, with significant variations depending on the specific formulation and comparison drug.

Semaglutide Performance:

• Semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy) demonstrated substantial weight loss in clinical trials, with participants losing an average of 14.9% body weight ^{[1] [2]}
• 86.4% of patients achieved at least 5% weight loss, which is considered clinically meaningful ^{[1] [2]}
• 69.1% achieved 10% or more weight loss, and 50.5% lost 15% or more ^[2]
• Across multiple STEP trials, semaglutide consistently showed mean weight losses of 14.9%-17.4% in participants without diabetes ^[3]

Comparative Effectiveness:

• Tirzepatide (Zepbound/Mounjaro) outperformed semaglutide in head-to-head comparisons. In real-world clinical settings, 81.8% of tirzepatide patients achieved 5% or greater weight loss compared to 66.5% with semaglutide ^[4]
• At 12 months, tirzepatide patients lost an average of 15.3% body weight versus 8.3% for semaglutide patients ^[4]
• A clinical trial found Zepbound resulted in 20.2% average weight loss compared to 13.7% with Wegovy ^[5]

Compounded Semaglutide/Cyanocobalamin:

• Real-world data shows compounded semaglutide/cyanocobalamin resulted in more modest weight loss of 4.11 kg (4.57%) after 3 months ^[6]
• Participants maintained lean muscle mass while losing fat mass ^[6]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several critical pieces of context that significantly impact the comparison:

Dosage and Formulation Differences:

• The question doesn't distinguish between different semaglutide formulations and dosages. Clinical trial data primarily reflects semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy), while compounded semaglutide/cyanocobalamin may use different dosing protocols ^{[1] [6]}

Treatment Duration Variability:

• Comparison timeframes vary significantly across studies. Some data reflects 3-month outcomes while others show 12-month results, making direct comparisons misleading ^{[4] [6]}

Real-World vs. Clinical Trial Performance:

• Clinical trial results may not reflect real-world effectiveness. The compounded semaglutide study showed much lower weight loss (4.57%) compared to clinical trial data (14.9%) ^{[6] [1]}

Individual Medication Context Missing:

• The question groups medications without acknowledging that Ozempic and Wegovy are both semaglutide but at different doses and FDA approvals ^[7]
• Saxenda and Victoza are both liraglutide but for different indications ^[8]

Financial Considerations:

• Pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly benefit significantly from promoting superior efficacy of their newer medications like tirzepatide over competitors ^[5]
• Compounding pharmacies benefit from offering lower-cost alternatives to brand-name medications, potentially influencing how effectiveness data is presented

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains several elements that could lead to misleading conclusions:

Incomplete Medication Grouping:

• The question treats Ozempic and Wegovy as separate medications when they are both semaglutide at different doses, creating artificial comparison categories ^[7]
• Similarly, Saxenda and Victoza are both liraglutide, making