Amycretin Shows Up to 24% Weight Loss in Early Trials, With Added Blood Sugar Benefits: Study
The investigational dual GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist Amycretin demonstrated significant weight loss-up to 24% with weekly injections and 13% with daily oral doses—in early trials, while also improving blood sugar control. Mild to moderate gastrointestinal side effects were reported.
As is now well known, obesity and excess adiposity is a global health issue, burdening people with multiple comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal diseases, cancer, and sleep apnoea.
The treatment of obesity and its comorbidities has been revolutionised in the past 5–10 years with the introduction of GLP-1 receptor monoagonists such as semaglutide and, more recently, the GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide receptor multiagonist tirzepatide. The pharmaceutical industry has been actively exploring other multiagonist strategies in which GLP-1 receptor agonism is combined with complementary satiety or metabolic hormone activities to obtain enhanced efficacy, whether for weight loss, appetite suppression, or other metabolic effects.
One such complementary hormone is amylin, the peptide hormone that is cosecreted with insulin from ß cells. Amylin slows gastric emptying and increases satiety, the latter effect being mediated via its receptors in the brainstem. Trial results of the GLP-1 receptor monoagonist liraglutide with the amylin analogue cagrilintide have suggested that the addition of amylin receptor agonism might enhance the weight loss seen with GLP-1 receptor monoagonists alone.
A fixed-dose mixture of cagrilintide with semaglutide (CagriSema; Novo Nordisk, Bagsværd, Denmark) is being developed for obesity and type 2 diabetes; recently disclosed top-line results from the phase 3 REDEFINE-1 trial suggested that CagriSema led to 20·4% weight loss over 68 weeks versus 14·9% weight loss with semaglutide alone
GLP-1 and amylin receptor multiagonism with amycretin for obesity management Khoo, Bernard et al. The Lancet, Volume 406, Issue 10499, 104 - 106
