Cagrilintide: What the Research Actually Shows
- What it is: Cagrilintide is a lab-made, long-acting amylin analog. Amylin is a natural hormone the body releases with insulin after a meal.
- Researchers have studied it for: body weight in adults with overweight or obesity, and how amylin receptors in the brain respond to it (in clinical trials and animal work). Note: some trials tested it next to semaglutide. Etched carries cagrilintide on its own.
- Evidence level: Real human phase 1 and phase 2 trial data, plus animal mechanism work. Still mid-stage and investigational.
- The short version: Cagrilintide is a once-weekly amylin analog that scientists have studied for weight management in clinical trials. Researchers looked at how it changes body weight over a set number of weeks, both on its own and next to other compounds. Everything below is what happened in study models, not what it does for any person. Research use only.
Cagrilintide is one of the newer names in metabolic research, and it already has human trial data behind it. This page lays out what researchers have studied, in plain language, and keeps the standalone research separate from the combination work.
What researchers have studied
Phase 2 dose-finding trial, 706 adults, standalone (Lau, Lancet, 2021). A randomized, double-blind trial with both a placebo group and an active comparator (liraglutide 3.0 mg). Adults with overweight or obesity received once-weekly cagrilintide on its own at doses from 0.3 to 4.5 mg for 26 weeks. Researchers recorded body-weight reductions ranging from about 6.0% to 10.8% across the cagrilintide doses, versus about 3.0% on placebo. The 4.5 mg group came in near 10.8%, compared with about 9.0% for liraglutide. This is the standalone cagrilintide study, no semaglutide involved. PMID 34798060. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34798060/
Phase 2 trial registry record (ClinicalTrials.gov). The standalone phase 2 dose-finding study above is registered as NCT03856047, with the protocol, dosing schedule, and outcome measures on file. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03856047
Phase 1b combination trial, 96 adults (Enebo, Lancet, 2021). A randomized, controlled early-stage trial. Here cagrilintide was tested together with semaglutide 2.4 mg, not on its own. At week 20, mean body-weight reductions were about 15.7% (cagrilintide 1.2 mg) and 17.1% (cagrilintide 2.4 mg) alongside semaglutide, versus about 9.8% for pooled placebo. We include it because it is part of the published record, and we note plainly that these numbers belong to the pair, not to cagrilintide by itself. PMID 33894838. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33894838/
Mechanism study in mice (Carvas, eBioMedicine, 2025). A preclinical study in genetically modified mice on a high-fat diet. Researchers reported that cagrilintide lowered body weight by acting on amylin receptor subtypes (AMY1R and AMY3R) in the hindbrain, in a region called the area postrema, which reduced food intake while sparing lean mass. Removing those receptors erased the effect. Animal and cell model, not people. PMID 40609154. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40609154/
How it works
Your body makes a hormone called amylin along with insulin after you eat. Amylin is one of the signals that tells the brain you have had enough food, and it also slows how fast the stomach empties.
Cagrilintide is built to act like amylin but last much longer in the body, which is why the trials dosed it just once a week. In the animal work above, it switched on amylin receptors in the hindbrain and lowered food intake. That is the signal researchers are studying for its effect on body weight.
Amylin acts on a different pathway than the GLP-1 compounds people tend to hear about. That is why some trials paired cagrilintide with a GLP-1 drug, to hit two signals at once. Etched carries cagrilintide on its own, so the standalone phase 2 data above is the closest match to what is in the vial.
What the research does not establish
Read this part twice. The honest limits matter more than the headlines.
- Cagrilintide is investigational. It is not approved for any use, and it has not been shown to be effective or safe in general use.
- The human trials so far are phase 1 and phase 2, which are early and mid-stage. They ran about 26 weeks or less, in specific groups (adults with overweight or obesity). They do not establish long-term outcomes or results in the general public.
- Some of the strongest weight numbers come from a trial that paired cagrilintide with semaglutide. Those results belong to the pair. The standalone phase 2 numbers are lower, and standalone is what Etched carries.
- The mechanism work is in mice and cells, not people. It does not tell you how the receptors behave in a person.
- Every number above describes a research model. It does not say the compound is safe to use, and it does not say the compound does anything “for you.”
For Research Use Only. Not for human consumption. Etched Research supplies compounds for laboratory and research use only. Independent identity and purity testing by Janoshik. Nothing on this page is medical advice, a health claim, or a recommendation to use.