Cagrilintide

What is cagrilintide?

Cagrilintide is an investigational, long-acting amylin analog. It is best known as half of "CagriSema," an experimental combination that pairs it with semaglutide. On its own it is a weight-management candidate that works through a different hormone pathway than the GLP-1 drugs, which is exactly why it is interesting: combining the two mechanisms appears to add up to more than either alone. It is not independently FDA-approved.

How cagrilintide works

Where semaglutide mimics GLP-1, cagrilintide mimics amylin, a hormone the pancreas releases with insulin. Amylin promotes fullness and slows gastric emptying through amylin and calcitonin receptors in the brain, a separate route from the GLP-1 system. Because the two pathways are complementary rather than redundant, stacking an amylin analog on top of a GLP-1 drug is the whole rationale behind CagriSema. Cagrilintide is also engineered to last, with a half-life around 180 hours, which supports once-weekly dosing.

What the research shows

In an early phase 2 trial, CagriSema (cagrilintide plus semaglutide, each escalated to 2.4 mg weekly) produced roughly 15.6% weight loss at 32 weeks, and it outperformed either component given alone. That last point is the key finding: the amylin analog contributed weight loss beyond what semaglutide delivered by itself. The evidence is still phase 2, the combination is what is furthest along, and long-term outcomes data does not exist yet.

Dosage and how it is used

Cagrilintide is not an approved standalone product, so there is no official dose. Trials used once-weekly subcutaneous injection with gradual escalation to 2.4 mg, most prominently alongside semaglutide 2.4 mg in the CagriSema studies. As with the incretin drugs, the slow titration is about managing gastrointestinal tolerability.

→ How to reconstitute cagrilintide: calculator, units to draw & storage

Side effects and safety

In the trials so far, the combination has been generally well tolerated, with mild to moderate gastrointestinal events (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) as the most common issues, the same pattern seen across appetite-suppressing peptides. Because cagrilintide is investigational and mostly studied as part of CagriSema, its standalone long-term safety profile is not established, and it has not cleared regulatory approval.

• Research depth: moderate and phase 2. Human clinical trials: yes, largely as CagriSema.
• Not FDA-approved as a standalone product. Long-term safety data is still accumulating.
• Varies by jurisdiction; not approved for self-administration. Verify current status independently.

Frequently asked questions

References

• Enebo LB et al. Co-administered once-weekly cagrilintide 2.4 mg with semaglutide 2.4 mg: a phase 2 trial. PubMed, 2023.
• Cagrilintide lowers bodyweight through brain amylin receptors 1 and 3. PMC, 2025.