Podcast episode 82 (in German)
Amycretin – 24.3% and the price that sits right next to it
September 20, 2026
A 24.3 percent weight loss — the figure has been doing the rounds for months, and it is correct; it appears exactly like that in the Lancet. What the posts leave out can be found one table further on in the same paper: how many participants stayed until the end.
What it is about
Amycretin is a drug that targets two satiety signals in a single molecule: the receptor for GLP-1 from the gut and the one for amylin from the pancreas. Two channels into the brain instead of two substances in one injection — pharmacologically a feat, and simpler to manufacture and dose than a combination. The episode puts the early data into context, sets the much-quoted efficacy figure next to the tolerability table and explains why the hope for two gentle signals instead of one at full throttle could not be seen in this study. Plus the context that matters most: the substance is an investigational drug.
Key points
- The early study in people with overweight, published in the Lancet in 2025, included 125 people spread across several dose levels and placebo, over up to 36 weeks.
- The widely shared peak figure of 24.3 percent weight loss comes from exactly this group of 125 participants.
- In the same study, 82 percent reported nausea and 53 percent vomiting, and 37 percent discontinued.
- The same paper also documents a single case of pancreatitis caused by gallstones that does not appear in any of the shared posts.
- The tablet form reached just over 13 percent after 12 weeks in a separate early study.
- A phase 2 study in type 2 diabetes with around 450 participants, announced in November 2025, reports up to 14.5 percent with the injection, just over 10 with the tablet and about 2.5 with placebo.
- Amylin is not a new idea: pramlintide has been approved in the US since 2005 and failed in the market because it had to be given with every meal.
Where the data stop
Everything available on amycretin is early. The weight figure comes from a study with 125 people and a duration of 36 weeks; for the approved drugs in this class, the data now span years and many thousands of people. No head-to-head comparison exists, and without one it is impossible to say whether combining two satiety signals ultimately turns out to be better tolerated than GLP-1 alone. The diabetes figures come from a company announcement; the full publication was not available for the episode. What can be verified so far is mainly that a phase 3 program has been announced for 2026.
The decisive point here is not a data point. Amycretin is an investigational drug, not approved and not legally available anywhere. Anyone looking for help with weight loss today should discuss the approved options with a doctor; investigational substances belong in trials whose registries are publicly accessible.
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Published on September 20, 2026.
The topic in the database
- Novo Nordisk’s next big weight-loss candidate: combines GLP-1 and amylin in a single molecule – as a tablet AND as an injection in phase 3 …Amycretin
Information only, not medical advice and not a usage or dosage recommendation. Prescription-only and unapproved substances belong in the hands of a physician. Last updated: 2026-09-19.