- Petrelintide, an experimental amylin agonist medication, may offer a new weight loss option with fewer gastrointestinal side effects than GLP-1 medications, according to a recent phase 2 trial.
- Participants taking petrelintide lost up to 9.8% of their body weight over 28 weeks, with gastrointestinal side effects similar to placebo.
- Petrelintide isn’t yet commercially available and requires further trials and more data before it can be considered a viable alternative for people who can’t tolerate GLP-1 medications.
GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, are known to cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
According to research from 2025, 42 out of 288 people with overweight or obesity taking GLP-1 medication (14.6%) quit the treatment due to an inability to tolerate side effects.
Finding alternatives to GLP-1 drugs could help some people follow the weight loss treatment with fewer side effects. A new study published in
In a
