Combining Semaglutide and Cagrilintide for Weight Management
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Reviewed by Dat Tien Nguyen, B.A, ScM.
Translated by Nhi Phuong Quynh Le, B.A |
Posted on September 8th, 2025
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In addition to lifestyle and dietary change, obesity can also be managed with pharmacotherapy options. Semaglutide, first used for diabetes, had been implemented for weight management. With the medication yielding promising results, there had been a continuous push to explore other approaches. A study, funded by Novo Nordisk, was conducted to explore the usage of semaglutide in combination with cagrilintide to manage obesity.
The phase 3 clinical trial included 3417 participants with an average body mass index of around 38. Baseline glycated hemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipid profile are considered to be normal. The participants were randomly assigned to be treated with either placebo, only semaglutide, only cagrilintide, or a combination of semaglutide and cagrilintide. Both medications were administered subcutaneously at a daily dose of 2.4 mg. Semaglutide achieves its weight management effect by mimicking the action of glucagon, and cagrilintide works by suppressing appetite via action of the receptor for amylin.
After 68 weeks of treatment, the researchers found that the combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide was the most effective at weight management by achieving an average 22.7% reduction in body weight. This clinical effect exceeds the 16.1% and 11.8% reduction in those treated with only semaglutide and cagrilintide, respectively. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan showed that the most of the weight reduction happened in the form of fat loss, with only one-third attributed to lean mass. Analysis of the safety profile showed that the reported adverse effects were consistent with what had been reported, with the incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events more prominent in patients treated with only semaglutide or the cagrilintide-semaglutide combination.
The phase 3 clinical trial included 3417 participants with an average body mass index of around 38. Baseline glycated hemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipid profile are considered to be normal. The participants were randomly assigned to be treated with either placebo, only semaglutide, only cagrilintide, or a combination of semaglutide and cagrilintide. Both medications were administered subcutaneously at a daily dose of 2.4 mg. Semaglutide achieves its weight management effect by mimicking the action of glucagon, and cagrilintide works by suppressing appetite via action of the receptor for amylin.
After 68 weeks of treatment, the researchers found that the combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide was the most effective at weight management by achieving an average 22.7% reduction in body weight. This clinical effect exceeds the 16.1% and 11.8% reduction in those treated with only semaglutide and cagrilintide, respectively. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan showed that the most of the weight reduction happened in the form of fat loss, with only one-third attributed to lean mass. Analysis of the safety profile showed that the reported adverse effects were consistent with what had been reported, with the incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events more prominent in patients treated with only semaglutide or the cagrilintide-semaglutide combination.