Losing weight and keeping it off can be a difficult task for many people. Top rated weight loss medication when combined with healthy lifestyle changes may provide much needed help.
In this 2024 guide, we will explore the obesity pharmacotherapy options that healthcare professionals currently rate as being the most effective for weight reduction and maintenance.
Overview of Top Obesity Medications
The list below shows the prescription anti-obesity drugs that obesity medicine specialists and bariatrician currently rank as the best pharmacological therapies for patients in 2024:
- Wegovy – Highest-rated weight loss medication for 2024 based on proven efficacy and safety in clinical trials.
- Ozempic is a very close second choice due to being the same semaglutide compound as Wegovy.
- Mounjaro – The latest GLP-1 drug gaining popularity for superior weight loss effects.
- Contrave – A leading combination drug, especially good for emotional eaters.
We will now explore each of these top rated weight loss medications in detail regarding their treatment indications, clinical evidence, potential side effects, and other key factors.
#1: Wegovy for Chronic Weight Management
Wegovy (semaglutide) injection has been rated as the most effective pharmacological obesity treatment of 2024 so far.
It is an injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue approved by the FDA in 2021 specifically for chronic weight management in significantly overweight adults.
Clinical trials have demonstrated that Wegovy can facilitate weight loss of 15-20% over a 68-week period. The table below outlines some key Wegovy weight loss results from the pivotal Stage 3 trial:
| Wegovy Dosage | % Weight Loss at 68 weeks |
| 2.4 mg weekly | 17% |
| 1.7 mg weekly | 16% |
| 1.0 mg weekly | 7% |
| Placebo | 3% |
This level of weight reduction is greater than that achieved with previous anti-obesity drugs like Contrave or Saxenda.
Wegovy mimics a gut hormone that sends signals of fullness and satisfaction to the brain after eating. By dampening appetite in this way over the long term, semaglutide promotes reductions in food consumption and therefore body weight.
It also delays gastric emptying which physically restricts the amount of food that can be comfortably eaten at one time.
The most common Wegovy side effects are gastrointestinal problems like nausea, vomiting or diarrhea which fade over time for most patients.
Rare but serious risks requiring prompt medical care include inflammation of the pancreas and gallbladder complications. As GLP-1 drugs can possibly damage thyroid or eye tissue, regular monitoring is necessary while on Wegovy.
Overall however, Wegovy’s impressive efficacy data and generally good tolerability make it the current top choice obesity medication for healthcare providers in 2024.
#2: Ozempic the Close Runner-Up
Ozempic (semaglutide) is almost identical to Wegovy, containing the very same semaglutide compound. The only difference is that Ozempic was originally developed and continues to be predominantly prescribed for type 2 diabetes rather than obesity itself.
However, increasing real world evidence demonstrates Ozempic’s powerful weight loss effects in overweight diabetics and non-diabetics alike.
In fact, it’s weight reduction capabilities appear very comparable to Wegovy based on emerging data from off-label usage.
The major downside is that Ozempic is not actually FDA approved for chronic weight management like Wegovy is.
Nonetheless, more doctors are now prescribing Ozempic for weight loss due its convenience as a once weekly self-injection pen and the fact that it is essentially the same semaglutide drug as Wegovy.
For these reasons, Ozempic is considered the second best anti-obesity medication choice behind Wegovy.
#3: Mounjaro the New GLP-1 Class Contender
Mounjaro is an exciting recently approved type 2 diabetes medication already proving itself as a highly promising weight loss injection too.
Known scientifically as tirzepatide, it works by activating GLP-1 and other hunger-reducing hormone receptors involved in appetite regulation.
In head-to-head clinical trials against Ozempic, overweight diabetics lost on average 2.5% more body weight over 40 weeks on the highest 15mg Mounjaro dose.
Although more long term data is needed, these initial results suggest Mounjaro could surpass Ozempic as the most effective GLP-1 obesity drug apart from Wegovy.
