Incretin / GLP-1
Phase 3 Trials
Cagrilintide
Also known as: AM833, NN9838, amylin analogue
Long-acting amylin analogue. Studied alone and alongside semaglutide in amylin-receptor research.
Research overview
Cagrilintide (development codes AM833 and NN9838) is a synthetic, long-acting analogue of amylin, a 37-amino-acid hormone made by the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. It was developed by Novo Nordisk. Natural amylin readily clumps into fibres, so it was redesigned to be stable, with a fatty acid chain added to make it long-acting. Cell studies show it activates both amylin receptors and the calcitonin receptor. In people, it was tested on its own in a randomised placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in 706 adults with overweight or obesity (Lau et al., Lancet 2021). Most phase 3 trials test it combined with semaglutide (a combination known as CagriSema), and some of these included a cagrilintide-only group (Garvey et al., NEJM 2025). Gastrointestinal effects were the most common side effects reported.
Cagrilintide, alone or combined with semaglutide, is not approved as a medicine in the UK, EU or US. Its long-term safety on its own is not known. Supplied for laboratory research use only.
Mechanism of action
Cagrilintide binds and activates amylin receptors, which are made of the calcitonin receptor paired with a partner protein called RAMP, and it also activates the calcitonin receptor on its own (cell studies). Natural amylin acts mainly on brain areas that sit outside the blood-brain barrier. In rats, long-term cagrilintide treatment changed gene activity in a group of brainstem nerve cells in the nucleus of the solitary tract, and knocking down one of those genes (Prlh) blocked cagrilintide's effects but not those of semaglutide (Ludwig et al., Nat Metab 2026).