Cagrilintide Dosage: What the Phase 2 Trial Used
By DoseGauge Editorial · Updated 2026-07-03 · 5 min read
Cagrilintide has no FDA-approved dose. It is an investigational long-acting amylin receptor agonist (Novo Nordisk code AM833), not approved for any use as of July 2026. The dosing you see online comes from clinical trials, not a prescribing label. In the Lancet phase 2 dose-finding trial, once-weekly subcutaneous doses ran from 0.3 mg up to 4.5 mg. In the CagriSema combination, 2.4 mg cagrilintide has been paired with 2.4 mg semaglutide. The figures below are what the trials used, not a recommendation, and the calculator on this site only converts a dose you enter into the units to draw on a syringe.
The phase 2 trial doses
Cagrilintide's published dosing comes from a phase 2 dose-finding trial, not a prescribing label (Lau et al., Lancet 2021). That trial tested a range of once-weekly subcutaneous doses against placebo to find out which produced the most weight loss with acceptable tolerability. The table lists the doses it studied. Read it as a record of what the trial did, not as a schedule anyone should follow on their own.
| Trial arm | Weekly dose |
|---|---|
| Lowest | 0.3 mg |
| 0.6 mg | |
| 1.2 mg | |
| 2.4 mg | |
| Highest | 4.5 mg |
Each arm reached its target by stepping up over the early weeks rather than starting at the full dose. That ramp is about tolerability, not the target itself: amylin receptor agonists, like the incretin drugs, tend to cause gastrointestinal effects that are worse if the dose climbs too fast. Starting low and increasing slowly is the standard way these compounds are introduced in trials.
The CagriSema dose
Most of the attention on cagrilintide is about the combination. CagriSema pairs cagrilintide with semaglutide in one weekly injection, and the headline pairing in trials has been 2.4 mg cagrilintide with 2.4 mg semaglutide. That 2.4 mg is the number the compound's default dose reflects. It is a fixed trial dose, not an approved regimen, and it says nothing about what any individual should take.
Cagrilintide has a half-life of roughly 7 days (about 159 to 195 hours), which is what allows once-weekly injection (Kruse et al., 2021). Steady state builds over about 5 to 6 weeks of weekly dosing, so a level keeps rising for over a month before it settles. For the pharmacology and citations behind that, the cagrilintide dosage calculator page carries the source line. Side effects are covered in the companion cagrilintide side effects guide.
Converting a dose to syringe units
A dose in milligrams does not tell you how far to pull the plunger. That depends on how you reconstituted the vial, because the volume of bacteriostatic water you add sets the concentration:
concentration (mg/mL) = vial strength (mg) / water added (mL)
draw volume (mL) = dose (mg) / concentration (mg/mL)
units (U-100 syringe) = draw volume (mL) x 100
Worked example. Put 2 mL of bacteriostatic water into a 10 mg vial and the concentration is 5 mg/mL. A 2.4 mg dose is then 2.4 / 5 = 0.48 mL, which is 48 units on a U-100 insulin syringe, and that 10 mg vial holds about 4 such amounts. Change the water volume and every number changes: the same 10 mg vial in 1 mL is 10 mg/mL, so 2.4 mg becomes 0.24 mL, or 24 units.
Because the units depend on your specific vial and water amounts, the reliable way to get the number is to compute it from your own inputs rather than copy a figure from a forum. A peptide dosage calculator does that conversion and flags the draw volume so you can see whether a dose fits a single U-100 syringe.
CalculatorOpen the Cagrilintide dosage calculator ->Frequently asked questions
What is the cagrilintide dosage?
Cagrilintide is investigational and has no FDA-approved dose. In the phase 2 dose-finding trial, once-weekly subcutaneous doses ranged from 0.3 mg to 4.5 mg (Lau et al., 2021), and the CagriSema combination has paired 2.4 mg cagrilintide with 2.4 mg semaglutide. These come from trials, not a prescribing label, and are not a recommendation.
What is the starting dose of cagrilintide?
In the trial, arms began below their target and stepped up over the early weeks, with the lowest dose studied being 0.3 mg once weekly (Lau et al., 2021). The ramp is there to limit gastrointestinal effects. There is no approved starting dose, because cagrilintide is not FDA-approved for any use.
How is cagrilintide dosed with semaglutide?
As the CagriSema combination, the trial pairing has been 2.4 mg cagrilintide with 2.4 mg semaglutide in a single once-weekly injection. That is a fixed trial dose, not an approved regimen, and any real-world use is a clinical decision, not something this page recommends.
How many units is a 2.4 mg cagrilintide dose?
It depends on your concentration. At 5 mg/mL (a 10 mg vial in 2 mL of bacteriostatic water), 2.4 mg is 0.48 mL, or 48 units on a U-100 syringe. At 10 mg/mL it is 0.24 mL, or 24 units. Enter your own vial size and water volume in the calculator above for your exact number.
- Lau DCW et al. Once-weekly cagrilintide for weight management in people with overweight and obesity: a dose-finding phase 2 trial. Lancet. 2021;398(10317):2160-2172. PMID: 34798060.
- Kruse T et al. Development of Cagrilintide, a Long-Acting Amylin Analogue. J Med Chem. 2021;64(15):11183-11194. PMID: 34288673.
Informational and educational only. Not medical advice. DoseGauge computes from the values you enter and does not recommend a dose. Talk to a licensed clinician before using any peptide or GLP-1 medication.