On this page
  1. Each US label is for
  2. The strengths the labels name
  3. Trials were measuring
  4. Canada
  5. Compounded copy is not
  6. Questions
  7. Sources

People ask "Mounjaro vs Zepbound" because a clinic, a news clip, or a relative used one name for both. The GLP-1 drugs list puts every brand in one table. This page stays on these two. Semaglutide, which is Ozempic and Wegovy, is a different molecule: semaglutide vs tirzepatide.

What each US label is for

Mounjaro's approval letter of May 13, 2022 is glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes, as an adjunct to diet and exercise. FDA's announcement that day called it the first drug that activates both the GIP receptor and the GLP-1 receptor. The DailyMed label revised July 2026 keeps that diabetes use and adds pediatric patients 10 years of age and older. Weight management and sleep apnea are not indications on that label.

Zepbound's November 8, 2023 approval is chronic weight management in adults with obesity, or with overweight and at least one weight-related condition, plus a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. FDA's December 20, 2024 announcement added moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. The DailyMed label updated August 28, 2026 still lists those two uses. It says the safety and effectiveness of Zepbound have not been established in pediatric patients. Glycemic control in type 2 diabetes is Mounjaro's indication, not the sentence at the top of the Zepbound label.

The original letters and the current labels are both real. A 2022 letter that says "adults" does not erase a July 2026 label line that adds ages 10 and older for Mounjaro. A diabetes trial result does not become a Zepbound indication because the molecule is the same.

The strengths the labels name

These numbers are what the labels name. They are not instructions, and this page does not turn them into a personal schedule.

Both labels list single-dose pens and single-dose vials at 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 7.5 mg, 10 mg, 12.5 mg, and 15 mg, each in 0.5 mL. Matching pen strengths are not matching indications.

The Mounjaro label says the recommended starting strength is 2.5 mg once weekly, and that this strength is for treatment initiation and is not intended for glycemic control. It then names 5 mg once weekly, and further 2.5 mg steps after at least four weeks on the current strength if more glycemic control is needed. The maximum it names is 15 mg once weekly in adults and 10 mg once weekly in pediatric patients.

Also on this siteSemaglutide vs tirzepatideSemaglutide vs tirzepatide: one lost 20.2%, the other 13.7%.SURMOUNT-5 put both drugs in the same 72-week trial. Tirzepatide took the bigger number. The gap is real. What it leaves out matters too.See the head-to-head

The Zepbound label says the recommended starting strength for all of its indications is 2.5 mg once weekly for four weeks, and that this strength is not approved as a maintenance strength. For weight reduction it names maintenance strengths of 5 mg, 10 mg, or 15 mg once weekly. For obstructive sleep apnea it names 10 mg or 15 mg once weekly. The maximum it names for all of its indications is 15 mg once weekly.

A 15 mg Mounjaro pen and a 15 mg Zepbound pen hold the same milligram amount of tirzepatide. They are still different applications, with different indicated uses. The Zepbound label's limitation of use says coadministration with other tirzepatide-containing products, or with any GLP-1 receptor agonist, is not recommended. Mounjaro is a tirzepatide-containing product. The label does not include a section on how to move from one pen to the other.

What the trials were measuring

Zepbound's label calls Study 1 the 72-week trial NCT04184622. That is the trial published as SURMOUNT-1, Jastreboff and colleagues, New England Journal of Medicine, PMID 35658024. It enrolled 2,539 adults with obesity, or with overweight and at least one weight-related condition, and it excluded type 2 diabetes. The label's table for that study lists a mean percent change in body weight at week 72 of -15.0% at 5 mg, -19.5% at 10 mg, and -20.9% at 15 mg, versus -3.1% with placebo. Those are the label's intention-to-treat figures for that study. They are not an Mounjaro diabetes result.

Read this next GLP-1 drugs list

SURPASS-2 is the diabetes head-to-head, Frias and colleagues, New England Journal of Medicine, PMID 34170647. Adults with type 2 diabetes already taking metformin were randomized to tirzepatide 5 mg, 10 mg, or 15 mg once weekly or to semaglutide 1 mg once weekly for 40 weeks. HbA1c fell by 2.01, 2.24, and 2.30 percentage points across those tirzepatide strengths, versus 1.86 with semaglutide 1 mg. Body weight fell by 7.6 kg, 9.3 kg, and 11.2 kg, versus 5.7 kg. The semaglutide strength in that trial is a diabetes strength, not a Wegovy maintenance strength. The full comparison, and why a SURMOUNT percentage cannot be subtracted from a STEP percentage, is semaglutide vs tirzepatide.

The sleep apnea indication has its own trials. FDA's December 20, 2024 announcement is the approval. The breathing-interruption numbers, and what those trials did not measure, are on tirzepatide sleep apnea.

Also on this siteEvery peptide, gradedTwo peptide profiles. Every claim cited and graded.BPC-157 and semaglutide, each claim checked against the human evidence.Open the profiles

Canada

Health Canada authorizes products, not the molecule as a class.

Mounjaro's summary basis of decision says Health Canada issued a notice of compliance on November 24, 2022, for the diabetes use. This page did not open a later Canadian monograph that would show whether the July 2026 US pediatric line has a Canadian match. The US pediatric sentence stays a US label sentence until a Canadian document says otherwise.

Zepbound's Canadian product monograph prints "Date of Authorization: 2026-06-11" and lists chronic weight management plus moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Pediatrics are not authorized on that monograph. The monograph also says coadministration with other tirzepatide products, including Mounjaro, or with any GLP-1 receptor agonist, is not recommended.

Prices were not collected. A US list price and a Canadian list price are different numbers, and this page does not convert them.

What a compounded copy is not

A compounded tirzepatide preparation is not Mounjaro and it is not Zepbound. FDA's shortage discretion for copies ended on the calendar in compounded tirzepatide. The buying questions, including the March 2026 telehealth letters, sit on safety and buying.

Common questions

Are Mounjaro and Zepbound the same drug?

They contain tirzepatide and they are different approved products. Mounjaro's current US label is type 2 diabetes. Zepbound's current US label is weight reduction in adults and obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Both labels say not to use them together.

Is Zepbound approved for type 2 diabetes?

The Zepbound label opened August 28, 2026 does not list glycemic control as its indication. Diabetes glycemic control is on the Mounjaro label. SURPASS-2 studied tirzepatide in adults with type 2 diabetes, and that trial result is not the same sentence as a Zepbound indication.

Is Mounjaro approved for weight loss?

The Mounjaro label revised July 2026 lists glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. It does not list chronic weight management or obstructive sleep apnea. Those uses are on the Zepbound label.

Is Zepbound approved in Canada?

The Canadian product monograph prints an authorization date of June 11, 2026, for chronic weight management and for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Pediatrics are not authorized on that monograph.

Can the pens be swapped because the milligrams match?

The labels list the same pen strengths, from 2.5 mg through 15 mg in 0.5 mL. They also say not to combine tirzepatide products. A matching milligram is not a section of the label that tells a reader to switch.

Sources

Methodology. Status checked October 26, 2026 against the May 13, 2022 Mounjaro approval letter, the DailyMed Mounjaro label revised July 2026, the November 8, 2023 and December 20, 2024 FDA announcements, the DailyMed Zepbound label updated August 28, 2026, the Zepbound label PDF that includes Study 1, Health Canada's Mounjaro summary basis of decision, and the Canadian Zepbound monograph. SURPASS-2 figures are the ones already cited to PMID 34170647 on the semaglutide vs tirzepatide page. Prices were not collected. A later Canadian pediatric monograph for Mounjaro was not opened.

Primary sources.