Overview
Cagrilintide is a synthetic, long-acting analog of human amylin — the hormone that pancreatic beta cells co-secrete with insulin after a meal to signal fullness and help moderate glucose. Native amylin is poorly suited to therapeutic use because it aggregates into fibrils and clears quickly; Cagrilintide is re-engineered to resist that fibrillation and to stay active far longer, which is why research models can explore it on a once-weekly schedule. It appears throughout the obesity and metabolic literature, most prominently as the amylin half of the investigational "CagriSema" combination studied alongside a GLP-1 receptor agonist.
How Cagrilintide Works
Cagrilintide behaves as a non-selective agonist across the calcitonin-receptor family. Rather than acting at a single target, it engages the calcitonin receptor together with the amylin receptor complexes (AMY1R, AMY2R and AMY3R), which form when receptor-activity-modifying proteins associate with the calcitonin receptor. By activating these satiety pathways, it is studied for its effect on post-meal fullness, gastric handling and energy-balance signalling. Because its receptor coverage is broader than that of native amylin and its half-life is extended, it should not be assumed to reproduce the behaviour of endogenous amylin in every tissue. In combination research it is frequently modelled with the GLP-1 analog semaglutide to probe whether amylin and incretin pathways act additively on appetite and weight regulation.
What the Research Explores
- Once-weekly amylin-receptor agonism and dose-response in overweight and obesity models.
- Combined amylin plus GLP-1 signalling and whether the two pathways are additive on appetite and body weight.
- Glycemic endpoints such as HbA1c change in type 2 diabetes research populations.
- Receptor pharmacology and structural binding across the amylin and calcitonin receptor complexes.
- Fibrillation-resistant peptide design and extended pharmacologic duration relative to native amylin.
Forms & Handling
Cagrilintide is typically supplied as a lyophilized powder, with research vials commonly offered in 10 mg, 20 mg and 30 mg presentations. It is reconstituted with bacteriostatic or sterile water for laboratory work and kept refrigerated once in solution. Phase 2 dose-finding research evaluated weekly amounts spanning roughly 0.3 mg to 4.5 mg, while the combination studies modelled a 2.4 mg pairing with semaglutide 2.4 mg — figures that describe study design only, not a usage recommendation. See the dosing protocols below for the reconstitution math expressed in insulin-syringe units.
Safety & Research Notes
Cagrilintide is an investigational research compound. As of this writing the amylin-plus-GLP-1 combination had been submitted for regulatory review but was not approved for sale, and Cagrilintide on its own has no approved human or veterinary use and no established safety profile for administration. The available literature is confined to clinical-trial and pre-clinical contexts. Everything described here is mechanistic background, not a usage recommendation.
References
- Lau DCW, et al. Once-weekly cagrilintide for weight management in people with overweight and obesity: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-finding phase 2 trial. The Lancet (2021). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34798060
- Enebo LB, et al. Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of concomitant cagrilintide and semaglutide 2.4 mg: a randomised, controlled, phase 1b trial. The Lancet (2021). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33894838
- Kruse T, et al. Development of cagrilintide, a long-acting amylin analogue. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2021). pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00565
- REDEFINE 1: A research study of CagriSema in people living with overweight or obesity (NCT05567796). ClinicalTrials.gov. clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05567796