Novo Nordisk launches AMAZE-12, a Phase 3 trial of amycretin in obesity

Novo Nordisk launched a Phase 3 clinical trial called AMAZE-12 in May 2026 to test amycretin, an experimental obesity drug that combines GLP-1 receptor activity with amylin, a hormone linked to appetite and fullness ^[1]. The trial is designed to look at post-diet weight maintenance, meaning it will study whether the drug helps people hold onto weight they have already lost through dieting, rather than testing weight loss from a starting point ^[1].

Amycretin is sometimes referred to in industry tracking as "zenagamtide" ^[1]. The available source material does not give specific weight-loss percentages, trial size, dosing schedule, or duration for AMAZE-12, and it is not yet known from this reporting whether the study will test a weekly injectable version, a daily oral pill, or both formats side by side. Novo Nordisk also announced a logistics hub in the United Arab Emirates around the same time as the AMAZE-12 launch, though details on how that connects to the trial are not specified ^[1].

The amycretin trial is one piece of a busy month for obesity drug development. Eli Lilly's retatrutide, a triple-hormone drug, reported topline Phase 3 results from its TRIUMPH-1 trial on May 21, 2026, showing 28.3% average weight loss at 80 weeks among people taking the 12 mg dose, with a subgroup reaching up to 30.3% at 104 weeks ^[1]. Nearly half of participants, 45.3%, lost at least 30% of their body weight, while 11.3% stopped taking the 12 mg dose during the study ^[1]. Separately, survodutide, another dual-hormone candidate, posted a 16.6% average loss at 76 weeks in its SYNCHRONIZE-1 trial, the first Phase 3 readout for a dual-agonist obesity drug not made by Lilly ^[1].

Not every drug in this category has succeeded. Novo Nordisk's own CagriSema, an amylin-based combination already filed with the FDA in December 2025, failed to prove it works as well as tirzepatide in a head-to-head trial called REDEFINE-4, posting 20.2% weight loss compared with 23.6% for tirzepatide at 84 weeks ^[1]. Novo has said it still expects a U.S. decision on CagriSema sometime in the fourth quarter of 2026 ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

AMAZE-12 is a pivotal trial, the kind of large study companies use to try to prove a drug works well enough and safely enough for FDA approval. But amycretin has not yet been approved for any use, and no results from AMAZE-12 have been reported. People currently using approved drugs such as Wegovy, Zepbound, or the newly approved oral drug Foundayo (orforglipron) should not expect amycretin to be available soon, since Phase 3 trials for obesity drugs in this pipeline have generally taken well over a year to produce data before any regulatory filing ^[1].

The focus on weight maintenance rather than initial weight loss is notable. Much of the current market attention has shifted toward what happens after people lose weight and want to stay at a lower weight without regaining it, a question raised by other maintenance-focused data this year, including a study on combining Foundayo with a lower dose of Zepbound after stepping down from Wegovy ^[1].

What happens next

No results from AMAZE-12 have been reported as of the information available here. Novo Nordisk has not disclosed a timeline for when data from this trial might be released, and the drug has not been filed with the FDA ^[1]. Investors and patients following the obesity drug pipeline can also expect readouts later in 2026 from retatrutide's TRIUMPH-2 and TRIUMPH-3 trials, which are studying the drug in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease ^[1].