--- title: The Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs Is Almost Here description: Scientists are exploring a new group of hormones—beyond GLP-1s—to target for weight loss. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/next-generation-of-weight-loss-drugs-is-almost-here/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-10-01T10:00:04.145Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T10:00:04.341Z article:section: Health og:title: The Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs Is Almost Here og:description: Scientists are exploring a new group of hormones—beyond GLP-1s—to target for weight loss. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/next-generation-of-weight-loss-drugs-is-almost-here/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb049fbfae9aa1db9/6abd79819e734422e707718d/GettyImages-2294172943.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2122 og:image:height: 1194 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2294172943.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs Is Almost Here twitter:description: Scientists are exploring a new group of hormones—beyond GLP-1s—to target for weight loss. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb049fbfae9aa1db9/6abd79819e734422e707718d/GettyImages-2294172943.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs Is Almost Here > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=d054102b-bfbb-410a-a1bd-dfa65e7850f5&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Weekdays | time.com/newsletters, September 2026 | | Written by | Written by TIME's health desk | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Health conscious and health connected. A broad health-conscious audience with a credible institutional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### TIME Health Matters: key statements * Health Matters is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Health Matters is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=d054102b-bfbb-410a-a1bd-dfa65e7850f5&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/subscribe?i=d054102b-bfbb-410a-a1bd-dfa65e7850f5&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's health newsletter? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health newsletter, written by TIME's health journalists. It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=d054102b-bfbb-410a-a1bd-dfa65e7850f5&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 1, 2026 10:00 AM UTC  Viktoriya Skorikova—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 1, 2026 10:00 AM UTC The field of weight-loss drugs is moving more quickly than ever since [medications](https://time.com/7207986/health-risks-benefits-weight-loss-drugs-ozempic-wegovy/) that mimic GLP-1, a type of peptide hormone in the gut, hit the market to treat weight issues and diabetes. But while there has been huge interest in the drugs, their side effects—which predominantly affect the GI system—cause roughly [40% of people](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260615033838.htm) who start them to stop taking them within a year. At the annual[ meeting](https://www.easd.org/home/) of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, researchers from the pharmaceutical companies behind the most popular weight-loss medications reported encouraging results from studies of a new group of injectable medications that may come with fewer side effects. Amylins are a group of peptide hormones that work in similar ways to GLP-1s by curbing appetite signals in the brain and encouraging the stomach to empty. They target different receptors on cells, so their effect can be complementary to that of GLP-1s and other drugs in their hormone group (called incretins). But unlike incretins, amylins don’t seem to cause as many severe side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramping. Scientists from Novo, which makes Wegovy and Ozempic, reportedthis week that their experimental amylin-based compound CagriSema, taken as a weekly injection, helped people who were overweight or obese lose 22.4% of their starting body weight after a year compared to those taking a placebo. The company also reported on fMRI studies of the brain that showed CagriSema changed brain responses to food, potentially making food fixations less intense. And in people with Type 2 diabetes, the drug reduced the amount of harmful fat in the liver and pancreas, an early but encouraging sign that the medication may contribute to health benefits beyond those associated with weight loss. CagriSema is a combination of the semaglutide—the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic—with cagrilintide, an amylin analogue that mimics a hormone made in the pancreas that regulates feelings of being full. Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Novo, says that the company also has an earlier stage study in people with Type 2 diabetes showing that CagriSema can reduce neuropathic pain, which affects about half of people with the disease. “It’s super exciting because we are showing that beyond weight loss and glycemic control, CagriSema can do more to help people in their everyday life,” says Lange. “So we are quite enthusiastic about what we are seeing.” Researchers from Eli Lilly, which makes Zepbound (tirzepatide), reported that EloraTZP, its experimental combination drug of the amylin analogue eloralintide and tirzepatide, helped people who were overweight or had obesity and also had Type 2 diabetesto lose 23% of their starting body weight compared to 14.8% among those using tirzepatide alone after nearly a year. The weekly injectable also helped people to lower A1C, a measure of diabetes, by more than either tirzepatide or the amylin compound alone. The company has been studying the amylin part of the combination on its own, but plans to study the combination in additional studies beginning this year. Zealand Pharmaceuticals, a Danish biotech company, also shared results from its study [published Sept. 29 in the _Lancet_](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587%2826%2900213-5/abstract) of its amylin-based compound petrelintide, an experimental weekly injectable. It helped people who were overweight or obese—but who didn't have diabetes—lose on average 10% of their body weight. (People who took a placebo lost only 1.7% of their body weight on average.) In the study, those even on the highest doses of the experimental drug reported similar rates of side effects as those who took a placebo shot. Because of their efficacy and favorable side-effect profile, at least in experiments, amylin-based medications may one day be an attractive first-line therapy for many people who are looking to lose a moderate amount of weight without the unpleasant side effects associated with the GLP-1 group of weight-loss drugs. “The amylins still cause some nausea, but it’s at less than half the rate of what we generally see in GLP-1 trials,” says Dr. Timothy Garvey, professor in nutrition sciences and senior scientist in the nutrition obesity research center at University of Alabama who led the petrelintide trial. Not everyone needs drastic weight loss, he says, so amylin drugs could be a welcome option for them. “As more of these tools become available, we can individualize care better,” he says. “Primary care physicians may have an easier time prescribing these since they are better tolerated. So I am personally very sanguine about amylins.” Novo has submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of CagriSema to treat overweight and obesity in people without diabetes, and the agency is expected to make a decision by the end of the year. The other products are in earlier human testing stages, but the results suggest that amylins may someday join GLP-1s in the burgeoning category of weight-loss drugs. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/next-generation-of-weight-loss-drugs-is-almost-here/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/next-generation-of-weight-loss-drugs-is-almost-here/"},"headline":"The Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs Is Almost Here","datePublished":"2026-10-01T10:00:04.145Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T10:00:04.341Z","description":"Scientists are exploring a new group of hormones—beyond GLP-1s—to target for weight loss.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/next-generation-of-weight-loss-drugs-is-almost-here/","keywords":["Drugs","Weight loss","Obesity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb049fbfae9aa1db9/6abd79819e734422e707718d/GettyImages-2294172943.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb049fbfae9aa1db9/6abd79819e734422e707718d/GettyImages-2294172943.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2294172943.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Viktoriya Skorikova—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/next-generation-of-weight-loss-drugs-is-almost-here/","name":"The Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs Is Almost Here"}}]}] ```