We use essential cookies (authentication, your saved goals/stack) by default. With your permission we’ll also enable privacy-respecting analytics (Vercel Web Analytics, anonymous load-time metrics) and error-replay diagnostics (Sentry — DOM snapshots only when an error fires) so we can fix bugs faster. Learn more about cookies
Cagrilintide (AM833)
An investigational once-weekly injectable long-acting amylin analogue developed for weight management. Honest framing: in a 26-week phase-2 dose-finding trial it produced ~6-11% mean weight loss as monotherapy (top dose modestly beating liraglutide 3 mg), and combined with semaglutide ("CagriSema") it drove larger weight loss in early trials. BUT cagrilintide is NOT APPROVED as a standalone drug — the evidence is phase-1/phase-2 only, with no phase-3 efficacy or hard-outcome data for monotherapy. It is a prescription-pathway drug, not a dietary supplement, and grey-market versions are especially risky. Note the CagriSema combination is a separate product on its own development track.
Prescription medication — not a dietary supplement
Cagrilintide is a prescription (or investigational) drug, not a supplement. It is included here for reference because people research and discuss it (often used off-label) — not as a recommendation. Take it only under a qualified clinician's supervision and only as prescribed; do not source it from grey-market vendors, where identity, purity, and dosing are unverified. The evidence below reflects its clinical trials.
What the evidence says
Most Cagrilintide studies are mechanism or observational rather than RCTs that measure a clinical effect — keep findings provisional.
Most evidence is from high-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 2021–2026 with a typical study size of 1,206 participants.
Based on 20 studies · 3 meta-analyses · 9 RCTs · 18,493 total participants
Confidence
High confidenceBy outcome
An investigational drug with promising phase-2 monotherapy weight-loss RCTs and supportive meta-analyses, but no dedicated phase-3 standalone trial and no long-term or hard-outcome data, keeping confidence moderate.
16 rigorous studies
10 randomized trials · 6 meta-analyses · 0 systematic reviews
Our evidence rating for Cagrilintide is accountable to this entire body of rigorous research indexed in PubMed — not a hand-picked subset.
PubMed · as of Jul 2026
19 trials ongoing or recruiting · 21 completed on ClinicalTrials.gov
1 of the completed trials have posted results
Registered trials show research momentum for Cagrilintide, not proof of effect — a registration is a plan, and posted results are sponsor-reported, not peer-reviewed. They are never counted toward the evidence rating above.
Browse these trials on ClinicalTrials.govClinicalTrials.gov · as of Aug 2026
Cagrilintide (developmental code AM833) is a synthetic, lipidated long-acting analogue of amylin — the pancreatic hormone co-secreted with insulin from beta cells that signals satiety, slows gastric emptying, and reduces food intake.
Native amylin aggregates rapidly into amyloid fibrils and has a very short half-life (the marketed analogue pramlintide needs three injections daily), so cagrilintide was engineered for stability and protraction, giving a half-life of roughly 7-8 days suitable for once-weekly subcutaneous dosing.
It acts as an agonist at amylin and calcitonin receptors, engaging both homeostatic and hedonic appetite circuits in the brain. The human evidence is promising but still early.
The headline monotherapy result is a 26-week, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled phase-2 dose-finding trial (Lancet 2021, n=706 on cagrilintide) in people with overweight/obesity without diabetes: mean weight loss ranged ~6.0-10.8% across the 0.3-4.5 mg doses versus 3.0% on placebo, and the 4.5 mg dose modestly outperformed liraglutide 3.0 mg (10.8% vs 9.0%).
A phase-1b trial (Lancet 2021) co-administered ascending cagrilintide doses with semaglutide 2.4 mg and reported ~15-17% weight loss at 20 weeks with an acceptable safety profile — the proof of concept for the CagriSema combination.
A phase-2 trial in type 2 diabetes (Lancet 2023) compared CagriSema, semaglutide, and cagrilintide alone over 32 weeks; CagriSema gave the largest weight loss (~15.6%), while cagrilintide alone gave ~8.1%.
Meta-analyses pool these early trials and consistently find CagriSema beats semaglutide on weight loss, with cagrilintide monotherapy roughly comparable to semaglutide/liraglutide but with less vomiting.
The CagriSema combination has since advanced to large phase-3 trials (REDEFINE program, NEJM 2025): REDEFINE-1 (n=3,417, no diabetes) reported ~20.4% weight loss at 68 weeks vs 3.0% on placebo and included a small cagrilintide-monotherapy arm, and REDEFINE-2 (n=1,206, type 2 diabetes) reported ~13.7% vs 3.4%.
The honest caveats remain substantial.
All cagrilintide-MONOTHERAPY efficacy data are phase-1/phase-2 (the phase-3 REDEFINE arms test the combination, with only small embedded monotherapy arms): there is NO dedicated phase-3 efficacy trial of cagrilintide as a standalone drug and no cardiovascular, renal, or mortality outcome data for it alone.
Cagrilintide is INVESTIGATIONAL and approved nowhere as a monotherapy — it is not a dietary supplement and not an approved medicine.
Adverse effects are class-typical amylin/GLP-1-style gastrointestinal events (nausea, constipation, diarrhoea) plus injection-site reactions; a dedicated thorough-QT study found no clinically relevant QTc prolongation.
The CagriSema combination is being developed separately and is on its own (largely phase-3) track, so its results should not be read as evidence for cagrilintide monotherapy.
Crucially, despite no standalone approval, unregulated 'cagrilintide' is being sold grey-market online; using an unapproved investigational peptide with no clinical oversight, no identity/purity guarantee, and no safety monitoring is especially dangerous.
Because it is a prescription-pathway investigational drug rather than a supplement to recommend, it is sandboxed out of goal-based and stack recommendations here.
Cagrilintide is a long-acting analogue of the pancreatic hormone amylin, engineered for stability against amyloid aggregation and a ~7-8 day half-life. It agonises amylin and calcitonin receptors, the same axis exploited by the short-acting analogue pramlintide — but once-weekly rather than thrice-daily.
Amylin signalling induces satiety via both homeostatic and hedonic appetite circuits in the brain, slows gastric emptying, and reduces food intake. This is the mechanistic basis for cagrilintide's weight-loss effect and is complementary to (not the same as) the GLP-1 pathway hit by semaglutide.
Because amylin and GLP-1 reduce appetite through separate-but-related mechanisms, combining cagrilintide with semaglutide (the CagriSema combination) appears to have an additive effect on appetite and weight loss in early trials. This rationale underpins a separate combination-product development program, distinct from cagrilintide monotherapy.
How Cagrilintide works — from molecular targets to health outcomes. Click an edge to see supporting research.This visualization is in beta — pathways are being refined and expanded.
There is no approved standalone use; obtaining or using grey-market 'cagrilintide' means taking an unapproved investigational drug with no clinical oversight, dosing standard, or product-quality guarantee. Strongly discouraged.
Hypoglycemia risk if combined with glucose-lowering agents; only relevant under trial-level medical supervision with secretagogue adjustment.
Amylin/incretin-class caution applies; unsupervised use is particularly unwise without long-term safety data.
Contraindicated — not studied; weight-loss pharmacotherapy is avoided in pregnancy.
Amylin-class agonism slows gastric emptying, which can reduce the rate/extent of absorption of co-administered oral drugs — relevant for time-critical or narrow-therapeutic-index oral medicines.
Combining a glucose-lowering agent with insulin or sulfonylureas can increase hypoglycemia risk; dose adjustment of the secretagogue may be required in supervised use.
Cagrilintide is being studied combined with semaglutide (CagriSema) under trial supervision, where GI adverse events are additive. Combining amylin and GLP-1 agonists outside a supervised setting compounds gastrointestinal toxicity and is not appropriate for self-administration.
Tip: Dose-related; mitigated by a lower starting dose and slow escalation. Most cases mild-to-moderate. Notably lower vomiting than with semaglutide/liraglutide in pooled data.
Tip: Class-typical GI effects; generally transient and dose-related.
Tip: Rotate injection sites; usually mild and self-limiting.
Tip: Rapid weight loss is associated with gallbladder events; report severe abdominal pain. Long-term incidence not characterised without phase-3 data.
Tip: Marked appetite suppression; as with weight-loss pharmacotherapy generally, some of the weight lost may be lean mass — adequate protein and resistance exercise are advised in supervised settings.
Cagrilintide has an evidence score of 5/10 — moderate evidence based on 17 indexed studies, including 2 meta-analyses. An investigational once-weekly injectable long-acting amylin analogue developed for weight management. Honest framing: in a 26-week phase-2 dose-finding trial it produced ~6-11% mean weight loss as monotherapy (top dose modestly beating liraglutide 3 mg), and combined with semaglutide ("CagriSema") it drove larger weight loss in early trials. BUT cagrilintide is NOT APPROVED as a standalone drug — the evidence is phase-1/phase-2 only, with no phase-3 efficacy or hard-outcome data for monotherapy. It is a prescription-pathway drug, not a dietary supplement, and grey-market versions are especially risky. Note the CagriSema combination is a separate product on its own development track. Representative study: PMID 38286487.
The commonly studied dose of Cagrilintide is Investigational — NO approved monotherapy dose. Phase-2 trials used once-weekly subcutaneous injection with stepwise escalation up to 4.5 mg maintenance. There is no approved standalone regimen; do not self-dose an unapproved drug.. Individual needs vary — start at the lower end of the range and adjust based on how you respond.
Timing is flexible for Cagrilintide — consistent daily use matters more than the time of day. Trials dosed once weekly subcutaneously with gradual dose escalation over ~6 weeks to limit gastrointestinal effects; the ~7-8 day half-life supports once-weekly administration.
Cagrilintide should be used with caution — talk to a healthcare provider before taking it. The most commonly reported side effects are nausea, constipation / diarrhoea, injection-site reactions. Use caution if any of these apply to you: Not a dietary supplement and not an approved standalone drug — investigational; do not self-source grey-market vials; History of pancreatitis (amylin/incretin-class caution); Pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Semaglutide
Mostly mechanism / observationalAn FDA-approved GLP-1 receptor agonist (Ozempic/Rybelsus for type 2 diabetes, Wegovy for chronic weight management) with genuinely strong, large-RCT evidence for glycemic control and substantial weight loss, plus a cardiovascular-outcomes benefit. Honest appraisal: this is a real prescription medicine with real efficacy AND real risks — a boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumors, pancreatitis and gallbladder risk, very common GI side effects, and growing concern about grey-market/compounded versions. It is included here for reference only, not as a supplement and not auto-recommended.
Tirzepatide
Mostly mechanism / observationalAn FDA-approved prescription medication (Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes, Zepbound for obesity and obstructive sleep apnea), not a dietary supplement. Honest appraisal: in head-to-head phase-3 trials it is the most effective approved weight-loss drug to date — up to ~21% body-weight loss over 72 weeks and superior to semaglutide — but it is a real medicine with real risks: a boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumors, common GI side effects, and pancreatitis/gallbladder signals. Do not source or use it outside a prescription.
Liraglutide
Mostly mechanism / observationalAn FDA-approved, once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist (Victoza for type 2 diabetes, Saxenda for chronic weight management). Honest appraisal: a real prescription medicine with genuinely strong large-RCT evidence for glycemic control and moderate weight loss, plus a cardiovascular-outcomes benefit (LEADER). It also carries real risks — a boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumors, pancreatitis and gallbladder risk, very common GI side effects, and lean-mass loss with weight loss. Included here for reference only; it is NOT a supplement and is not auto-recommended.
Orforglipron
Mostly mechanism / observationalAn investigational ORAL, non-peptide small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity and type 2 diabetes — the headline is the convenience of a once-daily pill (no injection, no cold chain, no food/water restrictions) delivering GLP-1-class glycemic and weight benefit. Honest appraisal: the phase-2 data are strong and the first phase-3 read-outs (ATTAIN/ACHIEVE) are promising, but it is INVESTIGATIONAL and not yet approved as a general weight-loss medicine, has the full GLP-1-class side-effect burden (very common dose-dependent nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, higher discontinuation than injectables in some comparisons), and the expected thyroid C-cell class warning and long-term outcomes are unsettled. It is NOT a dietary supplement; listed here for reference only.
Explore: Best supplements for Vitality & Longevity
Reviewed by Dr. Baher Al Hakim · Last reviewed June 2026 · evidence from 20 studies · how we score · editorial policy
This information is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting, stopping, or changing any supplement or medication.
Tap node to isolate • Pinch to zoom • Tap edge for research