New amylin-based drug petrelintide shows promise for weight loss with fewer side effects

A new international study has found that petrelintide, an amylin-based weight loss drug, helped participants lose weight while avoiding common gastrointestinal side effects associated with GLP-1 medications, according to sheknows.com.

Amylin is a hormone released by the pancreas alongside insulin that regulates blood sugar and promotes fullness by slowing stomach emptying, Yale Medicine explained. Petrelintide mimics this hormone's effects but works through a different mechanism than GLP-1 drugs, which mimic glucagon-like peptide-1 released by the liver.

Petrelintide is administered once weekly via injection and was developed by Zealand Pharma in partnership with Roche. The recent ZUPREME-1 study was randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled, providing rigorous data on the drug's efficacy and side effect profile.

While petrelintide may cause fewer digestive issues such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea compared to GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro, the study noted it might not produce as much weight loss as those medications.

No direct head-to-head trials between petrelintide and GLP-1 drugs have yet been conducted, but the findings suggest amylin-based drugs could offer an alternative for those seeking weight loss treatments with fewer gastrointestinal side effects.