Cagrilintide
Cagrilintide (Long-acting Amylin Analog)
Also called cagrilintide, AM833, long-acting amylin analogue
A long-acting copy of the fullness hormone amylin
Cagrilintide copies amylin, the hormone your pancreas releases alongside insulin whose job is to tell your brain the meal is finished. Natural amylin is useless as a drug because it clumps together, so this version was engineered not to, with a fatty tail added so it lasts about a week. It works on a different hunger channel from Ozempic, which is why the two are being tested together. It is investigational.
A long-acting copy of amylin, a fullness hormone your pancreas releases alongside insulin that works through a completely different route from the GLP-1 drugs. It is mostly discussed as half of CagriSema, where it is paired with semaglutide so that two separate fullness signals are pushed at once.
- Half-life
- Around a week
- Route studied
- Subcutaneous injection (trials)
- Status
- Investigational; not approved
Human trials published, with more underway
93 papers · 13 clinical trials
What Cagrilintide has been studied for
The reasons people look it up, roughly in order of how often, and what research exists for each. Interest in a use is not evidence that it works; the evidence is stated under each one.
- Weight loss
- In its phase 2 dose-finding trial (Lancet, 2021), the highest-dose group lost roughly 10% of body weight over 26 weeks, below what the GLP-1 drugs reached in their trials.
- Combined with semaglutide (CagriSema)
- Most of its development is as half of CagriSema, which produced more weight loss than semaglutide alone in trials. That combination is under regulatory review and not approved.
- The body's defended weight
- Amylin appears to act on the weight the body defends rather than only on hunger in the moment. That is a theory drawn from its biology, not a tested use.
Mechanism of Action
How Cagrilintide works
After a meal, the pancreas releases insulin. It also releases something else at the same time, in roughly equal amounts, that almost nobody has heard of: amylin.
Amylin's job is slowing things down. It slows how fast the stomach empties, damps the glucagon signal that would otherwise push the liver to release stored sugar, and reaches a part of the brainstem to signal fullness. It is a fullness hormone, and it works through an entirely different route from GLP-1.
Why it was hard to turn into a drug
Human amylin has an unhelpful habit: it clumps. Left to itself it aggregates into clusters, which makes it unusable as a medicine and is also a feature of the pancreatic damage seen in type 2 diabetes.
Cagrilintide is amylin redesigned so it does not clump, and given a fatty tail so it hitches onto a blood protein and rides around for a week instead of clearing in minutes.
Why it is being tested with semaglutide
This is the interesting part. GLP-1 and amylin are two separate fullness signals with different receptors and different routes into the brain. Pushing both at once is not the same as pushing one harder, and it is the reason the combination product, CagriSema, exists at all.
That reasoning is unusually well-founded for this field, and it is being tested in large trials.
Cagrilintide side effects: what studies reported
Mostly stomach-related, and in the phase 2 trial mostly during the dose escalation period.
Most commonly reported
- Nausea
- Reduced appetite
- Constipation
- Injection-site reactions
Worth keeping an eye on
- Because it slows the stomach, other medicines taken by mouth may be absorbed more slowly
Dose-related findings. In the phase 2 trial, nausea was more frequent at higher doses and during escalation.
Source: Phase 2 dose-finding trial, Lancet, 2021. This is a summary of published findings, not a complete safety profile and not medical advice. Questions about Cagrilintide belong with a licensed clinician who knows your history.
Your Genetics & Cagrilintide
The genes involved in how Cagrilintide works
Cagrilintide works through the receptors these genes build, and the genes vary from person to person. Researchers have linked some of that variation to differences in how people respond. A DNA report tells you which versions you carry.
LEPR · ••
The Gln223Arg variant in the leptin receptor has been studied for its association with body weight, with mixed results. Amylin interacts with leptin signalling in preclinical work. No study has tested whether this variant changes response to cagrilintide.
FTO · ••
FTO risk alleles are associated with higher body weight and appetite in population studies. No study has tested whether FTO genotype changes response to cagrilintide.
The calcitonin receptor forms the core of the amylin receptor complex that cagrilintide acts on. Variants have been studied for association with bone and metabolic traits; any link to cagrilintide is untested.
The dots after each gene are where your own result goes. Your report fills them in with the two letters you carry at that position.
Which of these variants do you carry?
Your report reads the DNA file you already have against this research.
Often discussed alongside
Compounds that come up next to Cagrilintide in research and discussion. Each has its own page. None of this is a suggestion to combine them.
Semaglutide
combined as CagriSema in trialsStrong EvidenceSemaglutide (GLP-1 Receptor Agonist)
A weekly injection sold as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss. It is a rebuilt copy of a hormone your gut releases after eating, the one that tells your brain you are full, engineered to last a week instead of minutes. Its SELECT trial also showed fewer heart attacks and strokes in people with heart disease and obesity, which became an approved use for Wegovy.
4
Gene variants
200+
Studies
Access
Access and legal status
Cagrilintide: Investigational; not approved. Decisions about any prescription medicine belong to a prescriber. We don't link to any seller, and nothing on this page is a recommendation to obtain or use it.
Your DNA and Cagrilintide: see which of the variants studied alongside it you carry, and what that research does and does not show. Read my DNA, $99 →
Educational information only, not medical advice. Most peptides are not FDA-approved. Do not start, stop or change any medication or peptide because of this page; talk to a licensed clinician.
Worth knowing about Cagrilintide
Interactions and situations where there is a specific reason to be careful. Where the honest answer is that nobody has studied something, it says so and says what that leaves open.
- Not approved on its own
- It has been through Phase 2 as a standalone and is mostly being developed as half of a combination. There is no approved single-agent product.
- Weaker alone than the drugs it is compared to
- Judged by itself it does less than semaglutide. Its case rests on doing something different rather than something stronger.
The evidence behind Cagrilintide
Unusually solid for this catalogue: 13 registered clinical trials, and the compound is a pharmaceutical in active development rather than a research chemical. What it is not yet is approved. Most of the current attention is on the combination with semaglutide, which is being tested in large trials.
The literature, counted
Counted in PubMed on 3 August 2026 for cagrilintide. Every figure links to the search that produced it, so you can re-run it. “Tagged human” is not the same as a human trial: that tag also covers work on human cells and reviews discussing people, which is why the trial count is given separately.
Studied in people
2 of 2The only kind that directly answers whether it works in humans.Lancet · 2021
HumanOnce-weekly cagrilintide for weight management in people with overweight and obesity: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled and active-controlled, dose-finding phase 2 trial
Lau DCW, Erichsen L, Francisco AM, et al.
The trial that tested cagrilintide on its own rather than only as a partner to semaglutide. Dose-finding, placebo-controlled, and it also compared against an active drug rather than only placebo.
Once-weekly cagrilintide for weight management in people with overweight and obesity: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled and active-controlled, dose-finding phase 2 trial: source for Cagrilintide (opens in a new tab)Phase 2
Read the paperJournal of Medicinal Chemistry · 2021
HumanDevelopment of Cagrilintide, a Long-Acting Amylin Analogue
Kruse T, Hansen JL, Dahl K, et al.
How the molecule was engineered: stopping natural amylin from clumping, and adding a fatty tail so it lasts a week. Explains why natural amylin itself cannot be used as a drug.
Development of Cagrilintide, a Long-Acting Amylin Analogue: source for Cagrilintide (opens in a new tab)Read the paper
Every source behind this page42 more
- Amylin analogs for the treatment of obesity without diabetes: present and futureMathiesen DS, Lund A, Vilsbøll T, et al. · Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology · 2024Review
- Cagrilintide: A Long-Acting Amylin Analog for the Treatment of ObesityNguyen T, Nguyen TT, Le TT, et al. · Cardiology in Review · 2024Review
Everything we cite for Cagrilintide, including preclinical work and early research. Each link goes to the source itself, so you can judge it rather than take our word for it.
Last updated · literature counts verified against PubMed on
Frequently Asked Questions
What is cagrilintide?
Cagrilintide is an investigational long-acting amylin analogue studied for weight management. It slows stomach emptying and signals fullness through the amylin pathway. In its phase 2 trial the highest-dose group lost roughly 10% of body weight over 26 weeks. It is not approved.
How is it different from semaglutide or tirzepatide?
Those are incretins (GLP-1, and GLP-1/GIP). Cagrilintide works on the amylin system instead, a separate appetite pathway. That is why it is being tested with semaglutide as CagriSema: the two mechanisms are distinct rather than overlapping.
Is cagrilintide approved?
No. As of 2026 cagrilintide is investigational, studied within Novo Nordisk's amylin and REDEFINE programmes. It is not an available prescription on its own.
Watch
What clinicians and researchers say about Cagrilintide
4 minCagrilintide - New Rx? (Obesity Doctor)Weight Medicine with Dr. Meghan MD · CreatorCagrilintideCagriSema
10 minCagriSema vs. Tirzepatide: Which One MELTS Fat Faster? | Dr. Dan | Obesity ExpertDr. Dan | Obesity Expert · CreatorCagriSemaSemaglutideCagrilintide
9 minThe Real Story Behind CagriSema's 20% Weight Loss ResultsDr. Dan | Obesity Expert · CreatorCagriSemaTirzepatideSemaglutideYour DNA and Cagrilintide
What the research says about your variants.
The report
Which Cagrilintide variants do you carry?
Your report reads the DNA file you already have against the published research on 31 peptides, marker by marker, and says what that research does and does not show.
Read my DNA, $99