Every GLP-1 drug and trending peptide, explained

Trulicity

Dulaglutide copies a gut hormone called GLP-1. It helps the pancreas release insulin when blood sugar is high and slows how fast the stomach empties. It is joined to part of an antibody, which keeps it in the body for days, so it is given once a week. It is approved for type 2 diabetes.

Xianyida (先颐达) · Xianweiying (先维盈)

Ecnoglutide is a once-a-week injection that copies a gut hormone called GLP-1. It helps the body release insulin and makes people feel full. China approved it in 2026 for type 2 diabetes and for weight management. No approval from the US, EU or UK regulators was found as of late September 2026.

Byetta · Bydureon BCise · Bydureon

Exenatide is a lab-made copy of a hormone first found in the saliva of the Gila monster, a large lizard. It acts on the same receptor as the gut hormone GLP-1: it helps the pancreas release insulin when blood sugar is high and slows the stomach. It was approved in the US in 2005 for type 2 diabetes.

Victoza · Saxenda

Liraglutide copies a gut hormone called GLP-1. It helps the pancreas release insulin when blood sugar is high, slows the stomach, and turns down hunger signals. A small fatty chain helps it stick to a blood protein, so one daily injection is enough. Its maker says it was the first once-daily GLP-1 medicine for obesity.

Xinermei

Mazdutide is a once-a-week injected medicine that switches on the body's receptors for two hormones: GLP-1, which lowers appetite and helps control blood sugar, and glucagon, which acts mainly on the liver and may help the body use more energy (shown mostly in animals). China approved it in 2025 for weight management and type 2 diabetes. We found no US, EU or UK approval as of September 2026.

Ozempic · Wegovy · Rybelsus

Semaglutide copies a gut hormone called GLP-1. It helps the pancreas release insulin when blood sugar is high, slows the stomach a little, and quiets hunger signals in the brain. A fatty side chain lets it stick to a blood protein, so it lasts about a week in the body. It is approved medicine.

Mounjaro · Zepbound

Tirzepatide is a small protein-like drug (a peptide, 39 building blocks long) that copies two gut hormones, GIP and GLP-1. Together they help the body control blood sugar and appetite. A fatty side chain lets it hitch a ride on a blood protein, so half of it is still there after about five days, and it is given once a week. It is approved for type 2 diabetes and weight management, and in the US for sleep apnea.

Foundayo

Orforglipron is a once-a-day tablet that copies a gut hormone called GLP-1. Most drugs like it are peptides that must be injected. This one is a small, non-peptide molecule that survives being swallowed. It is approved in the US and UK for weight management. The UK has also approved it for type 2 diabetes.

Amycretin is an experimental medicine from Novo Nordisk that copies two hormones in a single molecule: GLP-1 and amylin. Both help you feel full and help control blood sugar. It is not approved anywhere yet. Large phase 3 trials for weight loss, type 2 diabetes and heart failure are now running.

Cagrilintide is an experimental drug that copies amylin, a hormone your pancreas makes to help you feel full. It is built to stay in the body for a long time, so in studies it is given once a week. It is not approved anywhere yet. Its maker has asked the US FDA to approve it combined with semaglutide in one product, called CagriSema.

Eloralintide is an experimental once-weekly injection being tested for obesity. It copies amylin, a hormone made in the pancreas after meals that helps you feel full. It is not a GLP-1 drug. In a 48-week trial of 263 adults, average weight loss ranged from 9.5% to 20.1%, versus 0.4% on placebo. It is not approved anywhere yet.

Symlin (SymlinPen)

Pramlintide is a lab-made, slightly changed version of amylin, a hormone your pancreas releases along with insulin when you eat. It slows how fast food leaves the stomach, lowers a hormone that raises blood sugar, and helps you feel full. In the US it was approved as an add-on to mealtime insulin. The FDA now lists all Symlin products as discontinued.

MariTide is an experimental weight-loss medicine from Amgen. It is built from an antibody that blocks one gut-hormone receptor (GIP) and two small peptides that switch on another (GLP-1). It stays in the body a long time: about three weeks after a dose, roughly half of it is still in the blood. That is why it was tested once a month. It is not approved anywhere yet. Big phase 3 trials are still running.

Retatrutide is an experimental once-a-week injection from Eli Lilly. It copies three natural gut and body hormones at once (GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon). In large trials, people lost a lot of weight, but it is not approved anywhere yet. Lilly says it plans to ask the US FDA for approval in early 2027.

Survodutide is an experimental weekly injection that copies two natural hormones: GLP-1, made in the gut, and glucagon, made in the pancreas. It is being tested for obesity and for fatty liver disease. Large trials show weight loss and less liver fat, but it is not approved by any regulator we checked, and stomach side effects were common.

Vyleesi

Bremelanotide is a small ring-shaped peptide that switches on melanocortin receptors, which are docking points for a natural brain-and-skin hormone. In the US it is a prescription injection for one condition: low sexual desire that causes distress in women before menopause. Doctors do not know exactly how it works.

Forzinity

Elamipretide is a tiny four-piece protein that gets inside cells and sticks to the inner wall of mitochondria, the parts that make energy. In September 2025 the US FDA gave it a conditional (accelerated) approval for Barth syndrome, a rare genetic muscle and heart disease. Its other tried uses are not approved.

Imcivree

Setmelanotide is a small protein-like medicine for rare kinds of obesity where the brain's hunger-control system is broken, by a gene fault or by damage to the hypothalamus. It switches on the melanocortin-4 receptor, which tells the brain you are full. It is given as a daily injection and is not for common obesity.

Egrifta (Egrifta SV, Egrifta WR)

Tesamorelin is a lab-made copy of a natural brain hormone that tells the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. It is approved in the US for one narrow use: reducing extra belly fat in adults with HIV who have a fat-distribution problem called lipodystrophy. It is not approved for general weight loss.

AOD-9604 is a short piece of human growth hormone that a company tested as a possible weight-loss drug. It helped obese mice and rats. But in the biggest human trial it did not cause enough weight loss, and the company stopped in 2007. It is not an approved medicine, and it is banned in sport.

BPC-157 is a short chain of 15 building blocks (amino acids) made in a lab. It copies part of a protein first found in stomach juice. In rats and cells it seems to help tissue repair, but it has never been approved as a medicine anywhere, and only a handful of tiny human studies exist.

CJC-1295 is a lab-made copy of GHRH, a brain hormone that tells the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. One version is built to stick to a blood protein so it lasts about a week. The only published human studies are small, short trials in healthy adults. No regulator has approved it as a medicine.

DSIP is a tiny chain of nine amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). Scientists first found it in rabbit blood in the 1970s during sleep experiments. It is not an approved medicine anywhere we could verify. Human studies were small and old, and results were mixed. Nobody has found its gene or receptor, so how it might work is still unclear.

Epitalon is a tiny lab-made chain of four amino acids (building blocks of proteins), copied from the make-up of an extract from cow pineal glands. It is not an approved medicine in the US, and we found no approval by any other regulator. Most of the research comes from one Russian group, in cells and animals, with a few small human studies. It has never been tested for safety in a proper trial.

GHK-Cu is a tiny protein piece made of three building blocks (glycine, histidine, lysine) holding onto a copper atom. Our blood contains a little of it naturally. It is used in some skin creams. Human studies are few and small, and mostly test creams. Most other claims come from cells or animals. No drug regulator has approved it as a medicine.

Ipamorelin is a tiny lab-made protein piece (five building blocks) that acts like the hunger hormone ghrelin, even though it is not built like ghrelin. It makes the pituitary gland release a short burst of growth hormone. It is not an approved medicine anywhere we could verify. The one published trial in patients tested gut recovery after bowel surgery and found no clear benefit.

Kisspeptin is a natural hormone that acts like a starter switch for the body's reproductive system. It tells a small group of brain cells to send a signal to the pituitary gland. It has been given to volunteers and IVF patients in small, supervised studies. No regulator has approved it as a medicine.

KPV is a tiny protein piece made of three building blocks. It is the last three letters of a natural hormone called alpha-MSH. In lab dishes and mice it calmed inflammation. No human studies have been found and no regulator has approved it as a medicine.

LL-37 is a small protein piece that the human body makes itself to fight germs and help skin heal. It has been tested in only a few small human studies, on leg ulcers and on melanoma skin tumours. No regulator has approved it as a medicine, and there is no proof that it works or is safe when used outside a trial.

Melanotan II is a small lab-made peptide that copies a natural hormone which darkens skin and acts in the brain. It was tested in a few small human studies between 1996 and 2000, and we found no regulator that has approved it. In Australia and the UK it is sold illegally as a tanning product, and regulators warn about its side effects.

MOTS-c is a tiny protein piece that your own cells make from their mitochondria, the parts that produce energy. In mice and cell studies it changes how muscle handles sugar and fat. It is not an approved medicine anywhere we could verify, and there are no published results from trials of MOTS-c itself in people.

Selank is a short chain of seven amino acids, built from a natural immune-system fragment called tuftsin. In Russia it is a registered nasal drop for anxiety. The FDA has not approved it, and no approval by other major regulators was found. Human studies are few, small and mostly in Russian, and most of how it might work comes from animal and lab tests.

Semax is a short chain of seven amino acids, built from a piece of a natural stress hormone called ACTH. It is a registered nasal-drop medicine in Russia, where it is used mainly to treat stroke. It is not approved by the US FDA, and no approval by other major regulators was found. Human studies are few, small and mostly in Russian, and most of the lab evidence is from rats.

Sermorelin is a lab-made copy of the first 29 building blocks of a natural brain hormone that tells the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. The US once approved it as a test and for children with low growth hormone. The maker stopped selling it, and both US approvals were withdrawn in 2009. FDA said this was not for safety reasons.

TB-500 is a tiny lab-made piece of a body protein called thymosin beta-4. It is not an approved medicine anywhere, and no studies in people have been found. A few animal and cell-dish studies looked at wound healing, mostly with the full protein or a slightly different piece. It is banned in sport.

NAD+ is a helper molecule that every cell in your body already makes and uses, to turn food into energy and to run repair jobs. Some clinics sell NAD+ drips as wellness treatments. Studies in people are few and small, and we found no US FDA approval. Whether drips help healthy people has not been shown.