Tirzepatide drugs: what are they and what are they used for?

Tirzepatide is a new drug developed for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. 

It is a dual-acting incretin (metabolic hormone decreasing sugar level in bloodstream), i.e. it is simultaneously an agonist of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptors. 

Both receptors are present on α- and β-endocrine cells of the pancreas, heart, vascular system, immune cells (leukocytes), intestines and kidneys. GIP receptors are also present on adipocytes. 

In addition, GIP and GLP-1 receptors are expressed in brain regions involved in appetite regulation. 

Tirzepatide reduces body weight and body fat mass. The mechanisms associated with the reduction in body weight and fat mass include a decrease in food intake due to appetite regulation. According to clinical studies, tirzepatide reduces energy intake and appetite by increasing the feeling of satiety and satiation, as well as dulling the feeling of hunger. 

On January 29, 2025, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation registered the drug Tirzetta® (Tirzepatide) manufactured by PROMOMED, which is the first Russian competitor to the well-known and unavailable in Russia drug Mounjaro (approved by the European Commission in 2022).

According to Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the State Research Center of the Russian Federation “NMITs of Endocrinology” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Head of the Department of Personalized and Translational Medicine Natalia Mokrysheva.

“…This is a fundamentally new class, aimed at several critical components of key links in the pathophysiological process of obesity and diabetes mellitus – non-infectious pandemics that have engulfed modern society. The wide range of therapeutic effects expands the possibilities of its future use beyond endocrinology. Prevention of cardiovascular events, treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, kidney dysfunction, and nervous system pathologies – these are the effects of Tirzetta that will change the quality and duration of life of patients, and these are the prospects of the drug that have yet to be revealed.”