TIRZ

Tirzepatide

A synthetic 39-amino-acid peptide built on the sequence of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and carrying a C20 fatty diacid on a lysine side chain. It is an agonist at two receptors rather than one: the GIP receptor and the GLP-1 receptor. That dual activity is the structural difference between it and the single-receptor GLP-1 analogues listed elsewhere in this market.

Tirzepatide has 222 registered human studies on ClinicalTrials.gov, reaching phase 4, covering 85,102 planned or enrolled participants across the 197 studies that published a figure. An FDA-approved product contains TirzepatideZEPBOUND (NDA217806). 2,314 papers naming it were published in the last ten years.

Collected 2026-08-02 from ClinicalTrials.gov and Drugs@FDA. Counts include only trials whose registered intervention names Tirzepatide; the registry search is fuzzy, so every match is re-checked. None of this says whether Tirzepatide works or is safe.

FDA status

Approved

Human studies

222

Furthest phase

Phase 4

Papers, 10 yr

2,314

Readership

38,322

monthly average, Feb–Jun 2026

Tracking since 2026-07-29 · About this data

What has actually been tested in humans

A

An approved product exists

222

Registered human studies

Phase 4

Furthest phase reached

85,102

Planned or enrolled participants, across 197 studies that published a figure

Approved

FDA-approved product — ZEPBOUND

270 loose registry matches were checked and 222 confirmed — 48 named something else and were discarded. We count a study only when Tirzepatide is named as an intervention in it.

Registered means registered — not that the study finished, and not that it found anything. The grade is mechanical: it is computed from the registry and the FDA record alone, and it grades how much is known, never whether a compound is good or safe. Collected 2026-08-02 from ClinicalTrials.gov and Drugs@FDA. Check the query.

What Tirzepatide is, and what it has been studied for

Tirzepatide is classified by ChEMBL as a protein, and appears in trial registrations under BG-121 and LY-3298176. Its FDA substance identifier is OYN3CCI6QE.

Across 222 registered trials, it has been studied in Obesity, Overweight, Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity & Overweight. A condition here is what a sponsor registered the trial under — it records what was investigated, not what was shown.

The trials were run by Eli Lilly and Company and Brigham and Women's Hospital among others. A named commercial sponsor means a compound is in formal development; its absence does not mean the opposite, only that no company has registered a trial under its own name.

How far it got

Tirzepatide reached Phase 4 across 222 registered trials.Phase 1First given to peoplePhase 2Looking for an effectPhase 3Tested at scalePhase 4Studied after approval

Tirzepatide reached Phase 4 across 222 registered trials.

An FDA-approved product contains Tirzepatide. Approval covers a specific product for a specific use — it is not a verdict on the molecule.

Is anyone studying Tirzepatide?

Papers published each year that name Tirzepatide in the title or abstract, with the clinical trials that started in the same year marked beneath. Ten calendar years.

02505007501.0k17181920212223242526trials
Vertical axis: papers published that year. Bar for 2026 is hatched because that year is still running.
Publications and trials naming Tirzepatide, by year
YearPublicationsTrials startedComplete year
201704Yes
201802Yes
2019013Yes
2020109Yes
2021366Yes
20221128Yes
202322120Yes
202439636Yes
202590555Yes
202686168No

2,314 papers and 221 registered trials between 2017 and 2026. A paper counts when “Tirzepatide” appears in its title or abstract — phrase-matched, so a paper mentioning the words separately is not counted. The total is a single query over the whole window, which is why it does not equal the bars added together: PubMed files a paper under both its electronic and its print publication date, so one paper can appear in two years. Publication volume measures scientific attention, not whether a compound works: a well-studied compound can be well-studied and ineffective. Sources: PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov · collected 2026-08-02.

What Tirzepatide costs through a legal channel

Published cash prices, per month, as each programme states them. Sorted cheapest first. These are prices for an approved product dispensed through a pharmacy — not the research channel, which publishes no price this site collects.

  1. $299/mocash price

    TrumpRx Zepbound · list $1,087/mo

Collected 2026-07-31 from each programme’s own published pages. Cheapest is not a recommendation — these channels differ in who prescribes, who dispenses and who is accountable, and a price says nothing about which is appropriate for anyone. Prices change without notice; the seller’s page is authoritative. Check the source.

Published research on Tirzepatide

2,314 indexed papers name Tirzepatide in their title or abstract. These are the 8 PubMed ranks most relevant. Listing a paper is not a judgement about it, and none of these is summarised here — follow the link and read what it says.

  1. Tirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity

    Aronne LJ, Horn DB, le Roux CW, et al.The New England journal of medicine2025

    PMID 4035357810.1056/NEJMoa2416394

  2. Tirzepatide versus Semaglutide Once Weekly in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

    Frías JP, Davies MJ, Rosenstock J, et al.The New England journal of medicine2021

    PMID 3417064710.1056/NEJMoa2107519

  3. Tirzepatide for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis with Liver Fibrosis

    Loomba R, Hartman ML, Lawitz EJ, et al.The New England journal of medicine2024

    PMID 3885622410.1056/NEJMoa2401943

  4. Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide for Weight Loss in Adults With Overweight or Obesity

    Rodriguez PJ, Goodwin Cartwright BM, Gratzl S, et al.JAMA internal medicine2024

    PMID 3897625710.1001/jamainternmed.2024.2525

  5. Tirzepatide: A Systematic Update

    Forzano I, Varzideh F, Avvisato R, et al.International journal of molecular sciences2022

    PMID 3649895810.3390/ijms232314631

  6. Efficacy and safety of a novel dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist tirzepatide in patients with type 2 diabetes (SURPASS-1): a double-blind, randomised, phase 3 trial

    Rosenstock J, Wysham C, Frías JP, et al.Lancet (London, England)2021

    PMID 3418602210.1016/S0140-6736(21)01324-6

  7. Tirzepatide for overweight and obesity management

    Hamza M, Papamargaritis D, Davies MJExpert opinion on pharmacotherapy2025

    PMID 3963253410.1080/14656566.2024.2436595

  8. Effect of Subcutaneous Tirzepatide vs Placebo Added to Titrated Insulin Glargine on Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: The SURPASS-5 Randomized Clinical Trial

    Dahl D, Onishi Y, Norwood P, et al.JAMA2022

    PMID 3513341510.1001/jama.2022.0078

Collected 2026-08-02from PubMed, phrase-matched on “Tirzepatide” in title and abstract. Run the same search.

About Tirzepatide

A synthetic 39-amino-acid peptide built on the sequence of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and carrying a C20 fatty diacid on a lysine side chain. It is an agonist at two receptors rather than one: the GIP receptor and the GLP-1 receptor. That dual activity is the structural difference between it and the single-receptor GLP-1 analogues listed elsewhere in this market.

Also known as
LY3298176

Structure and mechanism only. Nothing above describes what this compound is for, and no dose appears anywhere on this page.

Reading on this compound

All articles

PepRack articles that reference this compound. This is not a news feed — we syndicate nothing and publish no datelines.

Vendor listings are not affiliate links and PepRack earns nothing from them. A listing records a price we observed on a date. It is not a recommendation of a product, dose, or treatment, and PepRack does not verify what any vendor ships.