Yes, and it acts on a second receptor as well. Mounjaro is tirzepatide, which activates the GIP receptor alongside the GLP-1 receptor; semaglutide, liraglutide and dulaglutide act on the GLP-1 receptor alone.

No. Mounjaro is a GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, not insulin: it acts on the body's own insulin release rather than replacing insulin. That is why these drugs' labels warn of low blood sugar mainly when they are taken with insulin or a sulfonylurea.

Does Mounjaro come in a pill?

No. Mounjaro is an injection, and no pill of tirzepatide is among the products tracked here.

What is Mounjaro?

What is Mounjaro, and how does it work?

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) is an injection made by Eli Lilly, whose active ingredient is tirzepatide. FDA approved for type 2 diabetes: to improve glycemic control, and on the label revised August 2026 also to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke in adults with type 2 diabetes at high risk of them. Weight loss is off-label use. The same molecule as Zepbound, described by its diabetes label: it activates GIP and GLP-1 receptors, raising insulin and lowering glucagon only when glucose is high. Its label reports weight lost in kilograms, which works out to 11.9% mean weight loss; the label itself prints no percentage. It costs $499 a month once titrated, read from its own published page on 2026-09-21 — the maintenance rate rather than the starting dose, because the starting dose is not the dose anyone stays on.

How does Mounjaro work? The label's words

Tirzepatide is a GIP receptor and GLP-1 receptor agonist. It contains a C20 fatty diacid that enables albumin binding and prolongs the half-life. Tirzepatide selectively binds to and activates both the GIP and GLP-1 receptors, the targets for native GIP and GLP-1. Tirzepatide enhances first- and second-phase insulin secretion, and reduces glucagon levels, both in a glucose-dependent manner.

Quoted from the mechanism of action section of FDA prescribing information for MOUNJARO, read 2026-08-29. Not paraphrased: how a drug works is the last thing a price site should put in its own words.

What is Mounjaro approved for?

Glycemic control in type 2 diabetes
As an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults and pediatric patients 10 years of age and older with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Weight reduction is not an approved indication for this product — that is Zepbound, the same molecule under a different label.
Cardiovascular risk reduction in type 2 diabetes
To reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular (CV) events (CV death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or non-fatal stroke) in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus who are at high risk for these events. Added on the label revised August 2026, on SURPASS-CVOT.

Approvals are quoted from the label, because the wording is what a prior authorization is judged against. Which approval a plan cannot exclude — a weight-loss exclusion is written against the use, not the molecule.

How much weight did Mounjaro lose in its trial?

11.9% of body weight. No percentage of body weight appears anywhere on the Mounjaro label, which has no weight-management section: every trial on it is a diabetes trial and reports weight in kilograms. This figure is worked out from the label's own kilograms — 11.2 kg lost from a 93.8 kg mean baseline at week 40 on 15 mg, in SURPASS-2 against semaglutide — and is an arithmetic step the label does not take.

One trial, one protocol, one population. Comparing it with another drug's figure compares two separate experiments rather than two drugs — the comparison, and what a point of body weight costs.

It carries a boxed warning — the strongest the FDA issues

In rodents this molecule caused thyroid C-cell tumors at human-relevant doses. Whether it does so in people is unknown, and the label carries that as a boxed warning. It is contraindicated outright with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2.

Everything the label lists, including who cannot take it →

How much does Mounjaro cost?

$499 a month once titrated, read from its own published page on 2026-09-21. The starting dose is usually cheaper and nobody stays on it, which is why the maintenance figure is the one this site records.

Mounjaro price and terms →The cheapest way to get it →

No clinician has reviewed this page. Label and trial statements are quoted from the FDA label or the trial cited beside them. General guidance is marked as such, and every price carries the date it was verified. That is sourcing, not medical review. What we do and do not check · Who checked the price

Mounjaro, answered

Is Mounjaro a GLP-1?: Yes, and it acts on a second receptor as well. Mounjaro is tirzepatide, which activates the GIP receptor alongside the GLP-1 receptor; semaglutide, liraglutide and dulaglutide act on the GLP-1 receptor alone.
Is Mounjaro insulin?: No. Mounjaro is a GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, not insulin: it acts on the body's own insulin release rather than replacing insulin. That is why these drugs' labels warn of low blood sugar mainly when they are taken with insulin or a sulfonylurea.
Does Mounjaro come in a pill?: No. Mounjaro is an injection, and no pill of tirzepatide is among the products tracked here.

Everything on Mounjaro

Last updated 2026-08-29 — the FDA label this page quotes. Read and dated by Alex Seot.