What Is Cagrilintide? The Amylin Analog Behind CagriSema

Cagrilintide is a once-weekly amylin analog from Novo Nordisk — not a GLP-1, and not a stronger version of one. Amylin is a separate hormone with its own receptors, which is why researchers describe amylin analogs as the next major class of weight-loss drug rather than the next drug in the existing one ^[2]. It is best known as the other half of CagriSema, the fixed-dose combination with semaglutide. Neither cagrilintide alone nor CagriSema has a US label: a DailyMed full-label search for both names on August 19, 2026 returned zero results ^[4]. The other amylin analog in development is petrelintide, which is considerably earlier.

Amylin is a different hormone from GLP-1

GLP-1 drugs work largely by slowing gastric emptying and signaling satiety through GLP-1 receptors. Amylin is co-secreted with insulin from the same pancreatic beta cells and acts on its own receptor family, reducing meal size through a different brain circuit. That difference is the entire commercial thesis: a drug that reduces appetite by a second, independent route can be added to a GLP-1 rather than competing with it, and may be better tolerated ^[3].

What the pooled evidence actually shows

A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis pooled four randomized controlled trials covering 5,425 participants ^[1]. Its findings:

Two things in that table are worth slowing down for. First, cagrilintide on its own moved weight but not blood sugar — consistent with amylin acting on appetite rather than glycemic control. Second, the authors reported substantial heterogeneity across most outcomes and modest but statistically significant increases in adverse events, and concluded that larger, longer trials are still needed ^[1]. These are early-class numbers, not settled ones.

There is no cagrilintide dosage chart

A large share of the search demand around this drug is for a dose — a chart, a schedule, a calculator, or a protocol for stacking it with tirzepatide or retatrutide. There is no approved dose to chart, because there is no approved product. Doses exist in the trial literature, but they are protocol-controlled escalation schedules run under supervision, and no trial we could verify tested cagrilintide combined with tirzepatide or with retatrutide at all.

We cover that question directly, including what the FDA record does and does not contain, on our cagrilintide dosage page. If you have been prescribed something and need to convert it to syringe units, the peptide reconstitution calculator does the arithmetic without suggesting a dose.

What is being sold as “cagrilintide peptide”

Because there is no approved product, vials advertised as “cagrilintide peptide” are not dispensed prescriptions. They are unapproved material sold outside the drug-approval system, usually labeled for research use. The same pattern surrounds retatrutide under the “GLP-3” nickname: a drug that has real trial data but no approval attracts sellers who borrow the trial data as marketing.