Is cagrilintide a GLP-1?

No. Cagrilintide is an amylin analog. It acts on amylin and calcitonin receptors, not GLP-1 receptors, although some of its effects on appetite and blood sugar overlap.

CagriSema is an investigational combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide developed by Novo Nordisk. It has been tested in large phase 3 trials in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Has cagrilintide been tested in humans?

Yes. It has been studied on its own in phase 2 trials and with semaglutide in phase 3 trials. Long-term data are still limited.

Amylin is released with insulin after meals. It helps signal fullness, slows stomach emptying and lowers glucagon, which together help control blood sugar after eating.

Cagrilintide Peptide: What It Is, How It Works and Side Effects

What is cagrilintide?

Amylin is a 37-amino-acid hormone made by the same pancreas cells that make insulin, and the two are released together after eating. Natural human amylin tends to clump together and lasts only a short time in the blood, so it is not practical as a drug. An older amylin analog, pramlintide (Symlin), was approved in the US in 2005 for people with diabetes who use mealtime insulin, but it acts only briefly.

Cagrilintide was designed to get around those problems. Its structure was changed to make it more stable and to keep it in the body much longer. It is investigational and in clinical trials as of 2026. Most of the large trials have tested it together with semaglutide rather than on its own.

How does cagrilintide work?

Amylin receptors are made of the calcitonin receptor paired with helper proteins called RAMPs. Cagrilintide activates amylin receptors and also the calcitonin receptor itself, so researchers describe it as a non-selective agonist. Many of these receptors sit in the brainstem and hypothalamus, brain regions that help control fullness and food intake.

Like natural amylin, cagrilintide is thought to increase fullness, slow how fast the stomach empties and lower glucagon release after meals, which helps limit blood sugar spikes. These effects overlap with those of GLP-1 drugs but come through a separate set of receptors. That difference is the main reason it is being studied alongside semaglutide.

What has research looked at?

Weight, on its own: A phase 2 trial in adults with overweight or obesity found that participants on cagrilintide lost more weight on average than those on placebo.
With semaglutide: In phase 3 trials known as REDEFINE, adults with obesity or overweight, with or without type 2 diabetes, lost more weight on average on CagriSema than on placebo.
Blood sugar: In a phase 2 trial in people with type 2 diabetes, participants on CagriSema had improvements in HbA1c, a measure of average blood sugar, and in body weight.
After meals: Research on amylin and pramlintide shows slower stomach emptying and lower glucagon after meals, which helps blunt rises in blood sugar.
Heart and other conditions: Trials have measured blood pressure and other heart risk markers, but effects on heart attacks, strokes, liver disease or brain health have not been established.

The evidence is moderate and growing. Most data on cagrilintide by itself come from phase 2 trials and from comparison groups in the combination trials. The larger phase 3 programs focus on the combination with semaglutide, so less is known about cagrilintide alone over the long run.

Cagrilintide, GLP-1 drugs and CagriSema

Cagrilintide is not a GLP-1 drug. Semaglutide, tirzepatide and retatrutide all act on GLP-1 receptors, while cagrilintide acts on amylin and calcitonin receptors. CagriSema combines cagrilintide with semaglutide. In trials that compared them, participants on the combination had larger average changes in weight than those on either drug alone, and digestive side effects were common. Whether the combination holds up over many years is still being studied.

Side effects and cautions

In trials, the most common side effects were digestive: nausea, constipation, diarrhea and vomiting. Most were mild to moderate and more frequent early in treatment. When cagrilintide is combined with semaglutide, the side effects and cautions of GLP-1 drugs apply as well. Long-term safety is still being studied. Anyone with health questions should talk to a qualified clinician.

Low blood sugar: Amylin drugs can add to the blood-sugar-lowering effect of insulin. With the older amylin drug pramlintide, severe low blood sugar was a known risk when it was used with insulin.
Stomach emptying: Because it slows stomach emptying, it is a concern for people with gastroparesis or other gut motility problems.
GLP-1 cautions: With semaglutide, the known cautions about pancreatitis, gallbladder problems and thyroid C-cell tumors seen in rodents also apply.
Pregnancy and long-term use: There are no safety data in pregnancy, and long-term effects are not yet known.
Product content: Products sold online as cagrilintide outside clinical trials may not contain what their labels say.