Weight & Metabolic
Petrelintide
aka ZP8396 · ZP-8396 · ZP 8396 · petre · petrelintide peptide · zealand amylin · roche amylin · petrelintid · petralintide · petrilintide · petrelinitide
Grade
An experimental weekly amylin injection from Zealand Pharma and Roche that produced moderate weight loss with relatively mild stomach side effects in one mid-stage trial. It is not an approved medicine anywhere.
- Class
- Long-acting human amylin analogue peptide; weekly injection
- Evidence
- Grade B · Promising human evidence
- Sport / WADA
- Prohibited at all times under S0 (non-approved substances). The WADA 2026 Prohibited List bans any pharmacological substance not covered elsewhere on the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use, explicitly including drugs under clinical development.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10
Grade B · Promising human evidence
Why this grade
Real, published, placebo-controlled human trials, but no Phase 3 results. The main evidence is one 42-week Phase 2 trial (ZUPREME-1, Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology 2026) in 485 treated adults: weight loss at 28 weeks was 7.9% to 9.8% versus 1.7% on placebo, counting people who stayed on treatment (efficacy estimand), reaching up to 10.7% by week 42. Two published Phase 1 trials support weekly dosing. All trials were funded by the developer, Zealand Pharma. A second Phase 2 trial in type 2 diabetes has not reported, and Phase 3 trials are only now registered to start. No regulator has approved it.
What is it?
Why people buy it
People are interested in it to lose weight. It is a new weekly injection that makes you feel full.
What we actually know
- •It copies amylin, a natural hormone that tells your body it is full.
- •One study followed about 485 people for 42 weeks. People lost about 8 to 11% of their weight.
- •That counted people who kept taking it. People on a dummy treatment lost about 2%.
- •It is still being tested. It is not a licensed medicine in the UK or anywhere else.
What might happen
- •Some weight loss looks likely, but less than with the strongest weight-loss injections.
- •Feeling sick was the most common side effect, mostly mild and early on. Being sick was uncommon.
- •Long-term safety is unknown. The biggest studies have not started yet.
- •Anything sold online under this name is not checked. Nobody knows what is really in it.
- •It is banned in sport at all times, because it is not an approved medicine.
Bottom line
Real results in people from one good study, with gentler side effects than many jabs. It is still a test drug.
Know someone taking this?
Send on WhatsAppPetrelintide is like a quieter car rather than a faster one. In its first proper test drive it got you a fair way down the road with less rattling than the GLP-1 jabs, but not as far. The long road test (Phase 3) has not started.
How is it meant to work?
A long-acting man-made analogue of the satiety hormone amylin. It activates amylin receptors in brain areas that control appetite, increasing fullness, slowing gastric emptying and reducing food intake. This acts on a different appetite system from GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide. Given by once-weekly subcutaneous injection in trials.
What's it studied for?
Research contexts. Not proven uses, and not recommendations.
Does the human evidence stack up?
Promising but limited. One published Phase 2 trial (Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2026, 485 treated) showed 7.9% to 9.8% weight loss at 28 weeks versus 1.7% on placebo, using the efficacy estimand (on-treatment), reaching up to 10.7% at 42 weeks. Nausea was the main side effect (20% versus 6%); other gastrointestinal effects were similar to placebo. Two Phase 1 trials support weekly dosing. All studies were funded by Zealand Pharma, the type 2 diabetes Phase 2 trial has not reported, and Phase 3 has not begun. There are no long-term safety data.
What could go wrong?
- !Not licensed by the MHRA or any other regulator. Its benefit-risk balance has not been signed off for any use
- !Nausea affected 20% of people in the Phase 2 trial versus 6% on placebo, mostly mild and during dose increases
- !Average weight loss was moderate, smaller than with the strongest GLP-1 and dual-agonist medicines
- !The headline Phase 2 figures use the efficacy estimand (people who stayed on treatment), which gives higher numbers than counting everyone who started
- !Evidence rests on one Phase 2 trial plus Phase 1 studies, all funded by the developer; Phase 3 has not begun
- !No long-term safety data
- !GREY MARKET: anything sold online as 'petrelintide' is unlicensed and outside regulatory oversight. Identity, dose, purity and sterility are unverified and it is not the trial product
Is it legal in the UK?
Investigational drug, not a licensed UK medicine. The MHRA has not granted a marketing authorisation, and it is not available on prescription or the NHS. Legitimate access is only through a registered clinical trial. Products sold to UK buyers under the name 'petrelintide' are unlicensed research chemicals; supplying it for human use would breach the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
Key trials
- NCT06662539· Phase 2· Completed
ZUPREME-1: Once-weekly petrelintide versus placebo for obesity or overweight with co-morbidities
493 randomised, 42 weeks; published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology 2026.
- NCT06926842· Phase 2· Completed
ZUPREME-2: Petrelintide in obesity or overweight with type 2 diabetes
221 participants; results not yet reported.
- NCT07843498· Phase 3· Not yet recruiting
ZUPREME-3: Petrelintide in overweight or obesity
About 3,900 participants planned; planned start 30 September 2026.
Sources
- 01Petrelintide, a human amylin analogue for the treatment of obesity (ZUPREME 1): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial — Garvey WT, et al., The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology (2026)
485 treated; -7.9% to -9.8% vs -1.7% placebo at 28 weeks (efficacy estimand); up to -10.7% at 42 weeks; nausea 20% vs 6%.
- 02Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics of Petrelintide for Weight Management: Two Randomized, Controlled Phase 1 Trials — Brændholt Olsen M, et al., Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (2026)
Half-life about 10 days; up to 8.6% weight loss after 16 weeks; mostly mild gastrointestinal events.
- 03Roche announces positive Phase II results for petrelintide, an amylin analog developed for people living with overweight and obesity, Roche press release (2026)
Roche and Zealand collaboration (2025); ZUPREME-2 type 2 diabetes results expected second half of 2026.
- 04A Phase III Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Petrelintide in Participants With Overweight or Obesity (ZUPREME-3), ClinicalTrials.gov (2026)
Phase 3; about 3,900 participants; not yet recruiting at the time of writing.
- 05World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026, World Anti-Doping Agency (2026)
S0 non-approved substances: drugs under clinical development are prohibited at all times.
Related
Before you trust a vial
Peptides are freeze-dried for a reason. If you have seen Petrelintide sold pre-mixed in a ready-to-use pen or syringe, here is why that is a red flag for potency, sterility and dosing.
Storage & stability →Stay posted
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