Peptides for weight loss
Every compound on the site sold or studied for weight loss, from the approved GLP-1 drugs to alternatives with little human data.
Most of the weight loss anyone can point to on this page comes through one hormone. GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide have large trials, approved weight-loss products and years of prescribing behind them, and their results are the reason every other compound here gets asked about.
The page is split into three sections because the evidence splits that way. The GLP-1 section holds the approved drugs and the newer multi-receptor compounds built to beat them. The amylin section holds analogs of amylin, a second fullness hormone that acts on a separate pathway and is often paired with a GLP-1 in newer drugs. The last section holds everything else sold for fat loss, where the human data is thin and in some cases negative.
Before comparing anything, check the badge on each card. A drug approved for weight loss, a drug approved for something else and a compound never tested in a person can sit next to each other on this page.
GLP-1 agonists
Compounds that copy GLP-1, the gut hormone released after a meal that tells your brain you have eaten.
A weekly shot that copies three fullness and fat-burning signals, with some of the largest weight losses in trials.
The Mounjaro and Zepbound drug: a weekly shot that works two appetite and blood-sugar signals at once.
The Ozempic and Wegovy drug: a weekly shot that turns up your 'I'm full' signal so you eat less.
Works on appetite and metabolism together, much like survodutide. Approved in China, in trials elsewhere.
Copies your fullness signal and pushes metabolism to burn more. Trials show weight loss and better fatty liver.
Copies the CagriSema idea in one vial. Neither half is approved, and the combination has never been trialled.
Cagrilintide and semaglutide in one weekly shot, hitting two separate fullness pathways at once.
A GLP-1 pill that survives digestion, so there are no needles and no empty-stomach rule.
The Saxenda and Victoza drug: the same fullness signal as semaglutide, shorter-acting and taken daily.
The compound behind the 'GLP-4' label on injectable vials. The real thing is an experimental once-daily capsule.
An antibody carrying two GLP-1 peptides that also blocks the GIP receptor. Injected once a month.
A once-weekly experimental injection from The United Laboratories, licensed to Novo Nordisk, that acts on GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors for weight loss.
A weekly GLP-1 approved in 2014. Less effective than rivals and mixed before every injection, so its maker pulled it.
Two different 'stop eating' signals, GLP-1 and amylin, built into one molecule. Tested as a pill and as a shot.
A once-monthly GLP-1 and GIP dual agonist from Ascletis. Every comparison with tirzepatide so far comes from mice, monkeys or a test tube.
Ascletis's triple agonist, built as a weekly tablet and a monthly depot injection. Mouse and monkey data only, with INDs expected by the end of 2026.
The human GLP-1 hormone itself, not a modified copy, so it is injected three times a day. Approved in China.
Pfizer's long-acting GLP-1 shot from the Metsera deal, tested weekly and monthly and now in phase 3.
Phase 3 done in 652 adults, up to 19.2% weight loss at 52 weeks. China filing accepted June 2026.
A triple agonist that swaps glucagon for a different third target: the NPY2 receptor. A 344-person dose-finding trial is running, and no efficacy number has ever been published.
An every-two-weeks GLP-1 injection from Gan & Lee, nearly identical to semaglutide. In phase 3 in China and licensed to Menarini for Europe.
A GIP and GLP-1 dual agonist in four phase 3 trials, none of them for weight loss. Lilly is testing it in alcohol use disorder and depression, it skipped phase 2 in both, and it has produced no efficacy result anywhere.
A weekly shot that works the same two appetite signals as tirzepatide.
Phase 1 interim: 68% less liver fat, 13.5% weight. The placebo group's liver fat rose 40% in four people.
A GLP-1 pill whose development was stopped over a liver-injury signal.
A GLP-1 drug approved for type 2 diabetes only. Weight loss is much smaller than people expect from this family.
A once-weekly GLP-1 from Sciwind Biosciences. It is approved in China and not in the US.
Merck's weekly GLP-1/glucagon agonist for fatty liver disease, an oxyntomodulin copy fused to an antibody tail.
Four completed phase 2 and phase 3 trials, zero published results and zero posted results. Every number in circulation for this compound, including that it beats dulaglutide, comes from press releases. Its only peer-reviewed efficacy data is a 48-patient phase 1b whose own authors call it preliminary.
Korea's first homegrown GLP-1 obesity drug, approved on October 7, 2026. About half the price of the incumbents, and on the figures published so far it takes off meaningfully less weight.
A GLP-1 approved and sold in China since 2025, with two peer-reviewed pivotal trials behind it, more than most of its Chinese rivals can show. Its national reimbursement listing is documented in a government list; its approval date is not documented anywhere outside company filings.
The first GLP-1 drug, copied from Gila monster saliva. Still approved, and largely left behind by newer drugs.
Gan & Lee's once-weekly GLP-1 tablet, a peptide rather than a small molecule, in its first human trial since September 2026.
Hengrui and Kailera's triple agonist, a different molecule from retatrutide, with 12-week phase 1 data.
A daily GLP-1 for type 2 diabetes. A real approved drug that was outsold and withdrawn from the US market.
A GLP-1/GIP prodrug built to release slowly enough for one shot a month. Phase 1, eight people's worth of data.
Novo's second triple agonist, hitting amylin rather than glucagon. Six trials in, no published number exists.
One residue from ribupatide, from a rival company. The headline 19.3% comes from a sponsor-defined analysis.
A gut hormone that weakly activates GLP-1 and glucagon receptors, the parent of mazdutide; never developed as a drug, with only small short human studies.
Approved in China since 2019 as a weight-loss drug. The label reports no significant weight change in either trial.
Curbs appetite and pushes metabolism to burn more. Studied for weight loss and fatty-liver disease.
A GLP-1 and GIP dual agonist whose published phase 2 shows the dose-response flattening: 2 mg and 4 mg gave the same weight loss, and the share of people losing a tenth of their body weight was lower at the higher dose. Its phase 3 interim was announced as successful with no figures at all.
A dual agonist dosed every two weeks rather than weekly, with a clean phase 2 dose-response up to 21.2% weight loss. Its phase 3 topline of 22.24% was announced with no timepoint, no enrollment and no safety data, and the placebo arm it implies lost less weight than the placebo arms in its own phase 2.
Hengrui and Kailera's weekly GLP-1/GIP shot, built to beat tirzepatide and now in global phase 3.
Approved in China in 2025 for type 2 diabetes. One residue from exenatide, and under a kilogram of weight change.
Works the same two appetite signals as tirzepatide. In trials as both a shot and a pill.
A weekly GLP-1 and glucagon injection for fatty liver disease: a small peptide on a large PEG, close to efinopegdutide. Phase 2 so far.
GLP-1 appetite control built to last long enough for one injection a month.
Amylin analogs
Copies of amylin, the fullness hormone your pancreas releases alongside insulin.
A weekly shot that copies amylin, a different fullness hormone from GLP-1. Often paired with semaglutide.
Eli Lilly's copy of amylin, the pancreas's fullness hormone, designed to be easy to tolerate.
A long-acting copy of amylin, the pancreas's fullness hormone, positioned as a gentler standalone option.
A long-acting amylin analog from Gubra and AbbVie with a 10 to 12 day half-life. One monthly injection took off about 8 percent of body weight in 13 weeks, in a phase 1 of 60 people.
Novo's bid for the first oral amylin. No dose, no weight figure and no structure has been published.
Ascletis's amylin peptide, made as a monthly depot injection and a daily tablet; both entered US phase 1 trials in 2026.
An amylin copy from AstraZeneca that activates the amylin and calcitonin receptors at close to equal potency, in the pattern of natural amylin.
Pfizer's ultra-long-acting amylin analog from the Metsera deal, built for monthly dosing alongside berobenatide.
A mealtime shot taken with insulin in diabetes. Blunts the blood-sugar spike after eating and reduces hunger.
Fat loss without GLP-1
The weight-loss compounds that are not GLP-1 or amylin drugs. People arrive here looking for something that works like Ozempic without being Ozempic.
Blocks NNMT, an enzyme that helps fat cells store fat. Studied for fat loss and energy on very little human data.
A growth hormone fragment built to keep the fat-burning effect and drop the rest. Human proof that it works is weak.
Nicknamed 'exercise in a molecule' for pushing cells to act as if you had worked out. There is no human data yet.
Raises your own growth hormone and triggers intense hunger, so it is mostly used for bulking.
The shuttle that carries fat into the part of the cell that burns it.
Suppresses hunger through the brain's reward system, the way a stimulant does, and carries more heart risk for it.
The tail end of growth hormone, the part linked to fat breakdown. Human evidence is thin.
A compounded shot of methionine, inositol and choline, usually with B12. Given weekly at clinics as a fat-loss aid.
Kills the blood vessels feeding fat. It caused dramatic fat loss in animals and kidney damage with it.
Makes mitochondria leak their charge as heat, so cells burn more for the same work. It has never been tested in people.
Switches on AMPK, the cell's low-energy sensor. The amounts in the famous animal studies do not scale to a person.
A short peptide encoded in mitochondrial DNA that acts as a cell-protection signal. Human data is limited.
A 4-amino-acid Khavinson peptide sold for pancreas function and blood sugar, with very little human research.
Taken by mouth to hold on AMPK, the switch the body normally flips during exercise or fasting.
An abandoned metabolic drug. Animal testing found tumors across multiple organs, and it is still sold for endurance.
Acts on the body clock and is sold as exercise in a capsule. Published work found it is barely absorbed by mouth.
Restores the missing 'I'm full' signal in people with rare genetic defects in one hunger pathway.
Kalohexis's oral peptide that switches on both the MC3 and MC4 appetite receptors, now in a phase 1 for obesity.
A peptide the body makes, linked to insulin sensitivity and fatty liver. Known from measuring it, not from giving it.
Antag's GIP receptor blocker, tested on top of semaglutide to see whether blocking GIP adds weight loss.
A fragment muscle releases during exercise, reported to turn white fat brown. The blood tests for it proved unreliable.
A long-acting GIP receptor agonist, studied largely on its own. It is the clean experiment on what the GIP half of tirzepatide actually does, and the published answer is insulin sensitivity rather than insulin secretion.
An engineered PYY relative aimed at the Y2 receptor. On its own in humans it took off 0.75 kg and missed significance. The 12 and 31 percent figures circulating for it are from mice.
The gut hormone behind every PYY analog on this site. Infused into a vein it cuts food intake by about 30 percent. Injected under the skin it did nothing at all.
A weekly PYY analog from Novo Nordisk, tested as an add-on to semaglutide for obesity; it added little weight loss and was dropped in 2023.
Found by searching genome databases. Animal work links it to appetite and weight, with no human trial of giving it.
Two head-to-head trials in different populations, three pivotal trials, and why their headline weight-loss figures are not directly comparable.
In STEP 8, semaglutide produced more weight loss than liraglutide; liraglutide offers generic availability and daily dosing.
One receptor, then two, then three, and the numbers climb with them. Only two of the three steps have a head to head behind them.
Both were tested in the same trial, in the same people, over the same 68 weeks. Semaglutide won on weight, and the combination beat both while coming in below their sum.
Semaglutide produced 16.9 percent in STEP 1 against petrelintide's 10.7 in ZUPREME-1. Petrelintide's case is tolerability: no vomiting at its best dose, and no added dropouts over placebo.
Tirzepatide won the head-to-head at 20.2 percent against 13.7. The 47 percent figure everyone quotes is relative; the absolute gap is 6.5 points, from an open-label trial.
Retatrutide's 28.3 percent is being set against tirzepatide's 22.5 percent. Different trials, different lengths, and no trial yet comparing the two directly.
Weekly dual-receptor CT-388 and monthly GLP-1 zovaglutide have not been compared head to head; their trial results use different measures and follow-up periods.
Common questions
What is the best peptide for weight loss?
The strongest evidence belongs to the GLP-1 drugs. Semaglutide and tirzepatide both have approved weight-loss products in the United States and large published trials, and in a head-to-head trial tirzepatide produced more weight loss than semaglutide. Tirzepatide also acts on a second gut-hormone receptor, GIP.
Are there weight-loss peptides that are not GLP-1 drugs?
Yes. Amylin analogs such as cagrilintide act on a separate fullness hormone and have human trial results, both alone and paired with semaglutide. Beyond those, the evidence for ordinary weight loss drops off sharply. AOD-9604 went through human trials and did not meet its primary endpoint, and most of the rest have never been tested for weight loss in a person.
Do you need a prescription for weight-loss peptides?
In the United States the approved GLP-1 weight-loss products are prescription drugs. Most other compounds on this page are not approved for any use and are sold as research chemicals rather than medicines. Each compound page lists its own status.