Research
Tirzepatide
A synthetic 39-amino-acid peptide that acts at both the GIP and GLP-1 receptors — the first dual agonist of its kind.
Available in the catalogue
Supplied as research material. Sizes and pricing are on the product page. Availability is not a statement about what a compound does.
What is being investigated
Directions the published work points at, and how far each has actually got. These are open questions, not established effects: most of what looks promising in cells does not replicate in animals, and most of what works in animals does not work in people. Nothing here is a claim about what this compound does for anyone.
- Body weight in obesity
Reported mean reduction of 16.0–22.5% over 72 weeks across dose groups against 2.4% on placebo. As with semaglutide, every trial studied an authorised medicine under supervision, and none studied research-grade material.
Human trials
- Glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes
The trial series the compound was authorised on, including head-to-head comparisons against GLP-1 receptor agonism alone — which is where the case for adding the GIP receptor actually rests.
Human trials
- Obstructive sleep apnoea
Randomised work measured apnoea–hypopnoea index in participants with obesity, on the question of whether the weight effect carries a condition that tracks it.
Human trials
- Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
A randomised trial in a population where weight is thought to drive the disease rather than accompany it, which is a different claim about the mechanism.
Human trials
- What the GIP receptor contributes
Unresolved, and it is the open mechanistic question here: whether GIP receptor agonism helps by adding to GLP-1 signalling or by desensitising the receptor is still argued in the preclinical literature.
Animal studies
Published research
Every reference below was checked against the published record before being listed, with the model each study used.
- Jastreboff et al. (2022)New England Journal of Medicine · 387:205–16
Reported mean body weight reduction of 16.0–22.5% over 72 weeks across dose groups, versus 2.4% on placebo.
human, randomised double-blind placebo-controlled (SURMOUNT-1) Source
Further reading
Longer articles on handling, analysis and what the published work reports.
- Tirzepatide: what the research says
A dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, and the active ingredient of EU-authorised medicines. What the trials reported, and what no trial has studied.
- How to store research peptides
Lyophilised peptides at -20°C, reconstituted at 2–8°C, ambient in transit. Why the dry cake tolerates shipping, and what actually degrades a vial.
- Peptide shelf life and stability
How long lyophilised and reconstituted peptides keep, and the four things that shorten it: temperature, moisture, light and oxidation. Storage figures included.
- How to reconstitute lyophilised peptides
How to reconstitute a lyophilised peptide with bacteriostatic water without damaging it: why you run the liquid down the vial wall and never shake it.