Efinopegdutide_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as MK-6024, HM12525A, JNJ-64565111, LAPS-GLP/GCG, MK6024
An experimental weekly GLP-1/glucagon shot being studied for fatty liver disease, not for weight loss.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is Efinopegdutide?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
It cuts liver fat far harder than semaglutide at the dose tested, with weight loss about the same. A 381-person phase 2b against Wegovy finished in December 2025 and its results have not been released.
Efinopegdutide is a GLP-1 and glucagon receptor co-agonist: a modified oxyntomodulin peptide joined through a PEG linker to the Fc tail of a human antibody.
What it's used for
An experimental weekly shot for metabolic liver disease. In a 24-week head-to-head it cleared about 73% of liver fat against 42% for semaglutide 1 mg.
How does Efinopegdutide work?
What it does in the body, and where.Efinopegdutide copies oxyntomodulin, a gut hormone that works both the GLP-1 and the glucagon receptor, and then makes it last a week.
- 01GLP-1 receptorAppetite, stomach emptying and the insulin response after meals, the same route as semaglutide. About two thirds of its activity sits here.
- 02Glucagon receptorPushes the liver to burn fat and raises energy expenditure. This is why liver fat fell so much further than with semaglutide, and also why blood sugar did not improve.
- 03Antibody tail and PEG linkerThe 30-residue peptide is joined through a 10 kDa PEG chain to the Fc portion of human IgG4. The whole molecule weighs about 53 kDa and clears slowly, giving a half-life of five to eight days.
Hits 2 receptors at once.
What else is it used for?
Each group carries its own evidence level.Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
Liver fat
Investigational- Human trialPhase 2a, 145 adults, 24 weeks: liver fat fell 72.7% on efinopegdutide against 42.3% on semaglutide 1 mg. 66.7% reached normal liver fat (under 5%) against 17.8%.
- Human trialAlternate-dosing study, 124 adults, 28 weeks: 67.8% reduction on 10 mg weekly, 54.4% on 10 mg every two weeks, 42.1% on 15 mg every two weeks. Weekly dosing did better than a higher dose given less often.
- No dataThe 381-person 52-week biopsy trial against semaglutide 2.4 mg completed in December 2025. Its results have not been published anywhere as of October 2026.
Weight and blood sugar
Early research- Human trialJanssen's 2018 obesity trial, 474 adults, 26 weeks: 11.8% weight loss at 10 mg weekly without titration, against 7.5% on liraglutide 3 mg. Nausea reached 67% and vomiting 54% at that dose. Janssen returned the rights in 2019.
- Human trialIn the liver phase 2a, HbA1c did not change on efinopegdutide (0.0 points) while it fell 0.5 points on semaglutide, and fasting glucose rose slightly. The glucagon component works against the blood-sugar benefit.
Efinopegdutide is often described as a weight-loss drug. The obesity programme was Janssen's and ended in 2019; every trial since 2021 is in liver disease, and Merck's licence covers liver disease only. The comparison that "beat semaglutide" was the 24-week phase 2a against the 1 mg Ozempic dose, published in the Journal of Hepatology in 2023, not a phase 2b and not in NEJM. The 52-week trial against Wegovy 2.4 mg has no public results. Vendor-style pages quoting a 40 kDa PEG, a 0.3 to 1 mg dose or a lyophilised powder are wrong on all three counts: the PEG is 10 kDa, trial doses were 2 to 10 mg weekly, and trial supply was a ready-mixed solution.
The published record
Papers and trials about Efinopegdutide
22 papers tagged human · 3 not reviews or lab · 3 clinical trial publications
15 registered trials · 5 with posted results
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count.
At a glance
Four things to know about Efinopegdutide
Evidence
Investigational
Category
Weight loss and metabolic
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
About 5 to 8 days (studies disagree)
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.2 up to 10 mg per week (trial doses, stepped up monthly), weekly. Not cycled in the trials Trial dose
Given continuously for 24 to 52 weeks with the dose stepped up at the start. No trial in this class built in a planned break.
How long does it stay in the body?
The half-life, and where the figure comes from.About 5 to 8 days (studies disagree)Trial protocol
Two sponsor documents give different figures: Merck's 2025 single-dose study reads about 4.8 days, the Janssen-era protocol summary reads 7 to 8 days. Both are quoted here rather than averaged.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov results, NCT06052566 (geometric mean 115 h after a single 7 mg dose, n=6); Janssen phase 2 protocol for NCT03486392 (7 to 8 days in early phase 1)
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
How do I dose and price it?
Enter your vial and your dose. Pick a mix. We show the draw and the cost.The vial holds a fixed amount of drug. Adding more water does not make more drug, it just spreads it thinner, so you draw a bigger number on the syringe for the same dose.
Choose your mix
Measuring the water1 mL = one full 100-unit syringe.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Dry powder in the freezer or fridge. Once mixed, fridge, and use within about a month.
Unmixed lyophilized Efinopegdutide keeps for a long time cold. Once you add water the clock starts: most reconstituted vials hold up for roughly 28 to 30 days at fridge temperature. Keep it out of light, and do not freeze it after mixing.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Solubility, computed: 33% charged residues, 33% hydrophobic. Water usually sufficient.
A first-pass rule from peptide manufacturers' guidance. It does not account for disulfide bridges, salt form or how the powder was dried, and it predicts what should be easy rather than what will happen in your vial.
Who should avoid it
- A personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2, excluded from every trial
- A history of pancreatitis
- Type 1 diabetes, or type 2 diabetes with HbA1c above 9%
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
- Anyone expecting it to lower blood sugar, because in the one head-to-head it did not move HbA1c while semaglutide did
Stop and get help
- Severe stomach pain spreading to your back, a possible sign of pancreatitis
- Vomiting badly enough that you cannot keep fluids down
- A racing or irregular heartbeat, since the glucagon component raises heart rate
- Spreading hives, swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing
Common effects
- Nausea in 28%, diarrhoea in 17%, vomiting in 17% and constipation in 17% over 24 weeks at 10 mg with monthly step-ups
- Without titration, at 10 mg weekly from day one, nausea reached 67% and vomiting 54% in the Janssen obesity trial
- A small fall in haemoglobin (0.62 mmol/L) that the authors attribute to glucagon receptor activity
- A slight rise in heart rate and a larger fall in blood pressure than semaglutide
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is Efinopegdutide approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.No. Efinopegdutide is not approved anywhere and is currently in company-run clinical trials. There is no legal route to obtain it outside a trial.
- Approval statusInvestigational
- RouteUnder the skin (subcutaneous)
- Checked10 October 2026
- DoseFrom published clinical trials. Not approved by a regulator for this dose.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- SourcesRomero-Gomez M et al., Journal of Hepatology 2023, phase 2a against semaglutideClinicalTrials.gov, MK-6024-013 phase 2b (NCT05877547)ClinicalTrials.gov results, MK-6024-016 alternate dosing study (NCT06482112)ClinicalTrials.gov results, Janssen phase 2 in obesity (NCT03486392)ClinicalTrials.gov results, hepatic impairment PK study (NCT06052566)FDA GSRS substance record, efinopegdutide (UNII DR6P1M58PO)Merck, press release, Fast Track designation and EASL 2023 data (12 Jun 2023)Merck, public pipeline, Q3 2026
What has happened recently
Not approved anywhere. FDA Fast Track for NASH was announced by Merck in June 2023. The 52-week phase 2b (NCT05877547, 381 adults, 4, 7 and 10 mg against placebo and semaglutide 2.4 mg) completed in December 2025 with no results posted as of October 2026. Merck's licence from Hanmi covers liver disease only; the earlier Janssen obesity programme ended in 2019.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like Efinopegdutide?
Others in GLP-1 agonists, side by side.If you're weighing Efinopegdutide, it's worth reading Exenatide (Byetta / Bydureon), KAI-4729, and Lixisenatide (Adlyxin) in the same class.
An experimental weekly GLP-1/glucagon shot being studied for fatty liver disease, not for weight loss.
- Dose
- 2 up to 10 mg per week (trial doses, stepped up monthly)
- How often
- Weekly
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- Dose
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- How often
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- Dose
- 1 up to 12 mg per week (trial doses)
- How often
- Weekly
An approved GLP-1 that lost the race and left the US market.
- Dose
- Set by the label
- How often
- Once daily
Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- How to Read an Insulin Syringe
Read the units, convert to millilitres, and draw the exact dose.
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- How to Read a Peptide COA
What the purity number does and does not tell you, and how to spot an edited report.
- How to Vet a Peptide Vendor
Independent COAs, HPLC purity, and the red flags that mean walk away.
Sources
- Romero-Gomez M et al., Journal of Hepatology 2023, phase 2a against semaglutide(2023)145 adults with fatty liver disease, 24 weeks, open-label. Liver fat fell 72.7% on efinopegdutide 10 mg against 42.3% on semaglutide 1 mg (p<0.001). Weight fell 8.5% against 7.1% (not significant). HbA1c did not change on efinopegdutide (0.0) and fell 0.5 points on semaglutide.
- ClinicalTrials.gov, MK-6024-013 phase 2b (NCT05877547)(2026)381 adults with precirrhotic MASH, 52 weeks, 4, 7 or 10 mg weekly against placebo and semaglutide 2.4 mg. Primary endpoint is MASH resolution on biopsy. Completed 29 December 2025; no results posted.
- ClinicalTrials.gov results, MK-6024-016 alternate dosing study (NCT06482112)(2026)124 adults, 28 weeks. Liver fat fell 67.8% on 10 mg weekly, 54.4% on 10 mg every two weeks and 42.1% on 15 mg every two weeks. Weight fell 7.5%, 3.9% and 4.1%. Nausea 33 to 48%; discontinuation for adverse events 5 to 10%.
- ClinicalTrials.gov results, Janssen phase 2 in obesity (NCT03486392)(2020)474 adults without diabetes, 26 weeks, 5, 7.4 or 10 mg weekly with no titration against placebo and liraglutide 3 mg. Weight fell 8.5%, 9.8% and 11.8% against 1.8% on placebo and 7.5% on liraglutide. At 10 mg, nausea 67% and vomiting 54%.
- ClinicalTrials.gov results, hepatic impairment PK study (NCT06052566)(2025)Single 7 mg dose: geometric mean half-life 115 hours in healthy adults (n=6), 146 to 149 hours with liver impairment.
- FDA GSRS substance record, efinopegdutide (UNII DR6P1M58PO)(2024)Full structure: a 30-residue oxyntomodulin analogue (Aib at position 2, a lactam bridge from 16 to 20, C-terminal amide) joined at cysteine 30 through a 10 kDa PEG linker to one chain of a human IgG4 Fc dimer. Calculated mass about 53,400 Da.
- Merck, press release, Fast Track designation and EASL 2023 data (12 Jun 2023)(2023)FDA granted Fast Track designation for NASH. Merck's licence from Hanmi (August 2020) is limited to NASH.
- Merck, public pipeline, Q3 2026(2026)Listed under MASH at phase 2. No filing.
Beyond these, 25 records are indexed. Browse the records