What it is
Cagrilintide is a peptide made in a lab by the drug company Novo Nordisk. It copies amylin, a hormone the pancreas releases along with insulin after eating. Amylin makes people feel full sooner, slows how fast the stomach empties, and lowers glucagon after meals. It acts on different brain areas than GLP-1. Natural amylin clumps together and breaks down fast. An older amylin drug, pramlintide, has to be injected before each meal. Cagrilintide has a fatty acid chain attached that sticks to albumin, which keeps it in the body for about 7 days. It is being tested alone and paired with semaglutide. The pair is called CagriSema. Other names: NN9838, AM833.
What researchers study it for
- Body weight in people with obesity
- Pairing with semaglutide
- Blood sugar in type 2 diabetes
- Blood pressure
What the studies found
1. Alone, it cut body weight by up to 10.8 percent in 26 weeks.
A 2021 phase 2 trial gave adults with overweight or obesity a weekly shot of cagrilintide at one of several doses, placebo, or daily liraglutide. At the highest dose, weight dropped 10.8 percent. The placebo group lost 3.0 percent. The result was about the same as liraglutide. Nausea and vomiting were the most common side effects. Human data.
2. Paired with semaglutide, it cut body weight by 20.4 percent in 68 weeks.
The REDEFINE 1 trial enrolled 3,417 adults with obesity or overweight, without diabetes. Weight dropped 20.4 percent with CagriSema, 14.9 percent with semaglutide alone, 11.5 percent with cagrilintide alone, and 3.0 percent with placebo. Stomach side effects happened in about 80 percent on CagriSema and about 40 percent on placebo. Human data.
3. The pair lowered blood sugar and weight in type 2 diabetes.
A 2023 phase 2 trial gave 92 people with type 2 diabetes CagriSema, semaglutide alone, or cagrilintide alone for 32 weeks. HbA1c dropped 2.2 points with CagriSema, 1.8 with semaglutide, and 0.9 with cagrilintide. Weight dropped 15.6 percent with CagriSema and 5.1 percent with semaglutide alone. The trial was small. Human data.
4. A large diabetes trial confirmed the result.
The REDEFINE 2 trial enrolled 1,206 adults with obesity or overweight and type 2 diabetes for 68 weeks. Weight dropped 13.7 percent with CagriSema and 3.4 percent with placebo. HbA1c reached 6.5 or lower in 73.5 percent on CagriSema, compared to 15.9 percent on placebo. Human data.
How much research exists
Phase 2 trials alone and paired with semaglutide, plus two large phase 3 trials of the pair. Long-term safety and heart outcome data is still coming.
Facts
- Formula: C194H312N54O59S2
- Weight: about 4409 g/mol
- CAS number: 2170750-08-4
- Sequence: amylin-based peptide chain with a fatty acid chain attached. Full sequence not listed here.
- Time in the blood: about 7 days
- Storage: keep in the fridge. Do not freeze. Keep away from light.
Legal status
Not approved by the FDA or any other agency, alone or as CagriSema. It is an investigational drug.
For research use only. Not for human use. Nothing here is medical advice.