KEY DETAILS
Per STAT, Lilly said A1c fell 2.2 points on top-dose retatrutide vs 1.8 on Ozempic at 80 weeks in people who stayed on treatment.
The Daily Beast reports that actress Chrissy Metz, 46, has lost 63 pounds while taking a GLP-1 medication.
The New York Post reports a study co-authored by Justin D. Bina found GLP-1 users more willing to pay for certain protein products.
Healio reports the phase 3 open-label TRANSCEND-T2D-2 trial randomized 1,298 adults with type 2 diabetes to retatrutide 9 mg, retatrutide 12 mg or Ozempic 2 mg.
According to The Times, cosmetic formulator Sam Farmer advises healthy scepticism about new creams claiming to regenerate fat tissue.
Eli Lilly said on Wednesday that its investigational drug retatrutide was more effective than Novo Nordisk's Ozempic at lowering blood sugar and cutting weight in a large diabetes study, according to STAT. That was not the only story worth your time. The Times looked at new creams and clinic treatments aimed at what it calls the fast-shrinking faces of the GLP-1 generation.
The weight figures are where this one gets attention. According to STAT, people on the highest dose of retatrutide lost 20.9% of their weight, while those taking Ozempic lost 9.4%. The fine print matters here. STAT reports that these results are based on analyses looking only at the participants who stayed on treatment, not all participants.
The next story is a personal one. In a piece published October 27, The Daily Beast reports that Chrissy Metz spoke with Entertainment Tonight outside the premiere of Apple TV+'s Nocturne about the medication's effects on her endurance and perimenopause symptoms. Her own account is the focus. According to The Daily Beast, Metz said she has noticed significantly less inflammation in her body after the treatment.
From there, the subject turns to shopping habits. The New York Post, in an article published October 27, identifies Bina as an assistant professor at Arizona State's Morrison School of Agribusiness. His own summary is plain. The Post quotes Bina saying that "using or starting to use GLP-1 medications increases your demand for certain protein products."
The trial behind the opening story gets a fuller picture from a second outlet. Healio reports that the participants were unable to achieve glycemic control with metformin with or without an SGLT2 inhibitor, and they were randomly assigned 2:2:1 to retatrutide 9 mg, retatrutide 12 mg or Ozempic 2 mg for 80 weeks. According to Healio, the primary outcome was noninferiority of retatrutide 12 mg compared with Ozempic for HbA1c reduction at 80 weeks. Healio reports that in these topline results, according to the efficacy estimand, both retatrutide doses had 2.2 percentage point declines in HbA1c, greater than the 1.8 percentage point drop with Ozempic 2 mg. Healio also reports that 4.8% of adults on retatrutide 9 mg and 7.9% on the 12 mg dose stopped treatment due to adverse events, compared with 2.7% on Ozempic.
The last story moves from medicine to skincare. The Times describes Farmer as a cosmetic formulator and past president of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists. According to The Times, Farmer says that stating a cream or serum can support the regeneration of fat tissue is an unheard-of claim to make for a cosmetic. His distinction is a useful one. The Times quotes him saying that "there's a difference between data observed in a laboratory and a proven visible change in a human face."
Each of these stories has more detail than fits here. The full articles are at STAT (https://www.statnews.com/2026/10/28/retatrutide-vs-ozempic-lilly-diabetes-study/), The Daily Beast (https://www.thedailybeast.com/chrissy-metz-reveals-unexpected-glp-1-side-effect-after-60-lb-weight-loss), the New York Post (https://nypost.com/2026/10/27/lifestyle/meatheads-and-glp-1-one-users-may-be-why-your-steak-dinner-costs-more/), Healio (https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20261028/retatrutide-confers-greater-decreases-in-hba1c-weight-vs-ozempic-in-type-2-diabetes) and The Times (https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/the-new-creams-and-treatments-for-ozempic-face-times-luxury-th6s0583z).
Originally published on GLP-1 Nation.
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