Retatrutide vs CagriSema
A weekly weight-loss injection not yet approved. In trials people lost up to about a quarter of their body weight in 48 weeks. A weekly weight-loss shot that combines two hormones. Large trials show about 20% weight loss over 68 weeks, but it is not yet approved.
CagriSema has the stronger evidence, grade A (strong human evidence) against grade B for Retatrutide. Neither is FDA approved.
Evidence
BSome human evidence
AStrong human evidence
Human studies cited
Animal or cell studies cited
Why the grade
There is one published randomized phase 2 trial in obesity (338 adults, 48 weeks), a 98-person liver fat substudy of that trial, and one published phase 3 trial, TRIUMPH-2, in 1,152 adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes over 80 weeks; other phase 3 results exist only as press releases. Multiple randomized trials point the same way, but the drug is not approved, most of the roughly 5,800-person TRIUMPH program is unpublished, and there is no long-term safety data, so the grade is B and not A.
Two large phase 3 randomized placebo-controlled trials support the weight-loss use: REDEFINE 1 randomized 3,417 adults with overweight or obesity and REDEFINE 2 randomized 1,206 adults with type 2 diabetes, both over 68 weeks. A thorough QT study (105 participants) and a phase 2 trial of cagrilintide alone round out the human data. What is missing is regulatory approval and long-term outcome data beyond 68 weeks.
FDA
In clinical trials
Retatrutide is an investigational drug and is not approved by the FDA for any use. Eli Lilly has said it plans to file for approval in the first quarter of 2027 after completing manufacturing data. Vials sold online as retatrutide are not a legal product; the FDA has stated that unapproved GLP-1 class drugs cannot be used in compounding.
In clinical trials
CagriSema is not approved by the FDA for any use as of 2026-10-26. Novo Nordisk reported submitting it to the FDA for weight management, and the application is under review; no product name has been approved.
Sold for
Retatrutide is talked about as the next step beyond tirzepatide, a triple-hormone injection that produced the largest weight loss yet seen in a drug trial.
CagriSema is talked about as the next step after semaglutide: a weekly injection combining two hormones that early company statements suggested could beat tirzepatide on weight loss.
Studies say
Randomized trials show about a quarter of body weight lost over 48 weeks and roughly a fifth over 80 weeks in people with diabetes, with gastrointestinal side effects and heart rate increases, which supports a B pending approval and full phase 3 publication.
Published phase 3 trials show roughly 20% body-weight loss over 68 weeks against 3% on placebo, which earns an A for the weight-loss use, but the head-to-head trial against tirzepatide missed its primary goal.
Class
Triple GLP-1 / GIP / glucagon agonist
Amylin + GLP-1 combination
Route
Injection
Injection