Danuglipron dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
Danuglipron is Pfizer's daily GLP-1 pill. Pfizer stopped work on it in 2025. Many people had stomach side effects, and one person showed possible liver injury.
Evidence grade for Danuglipron: Limited. The rule: people have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. The sum on this page: 1 completed trial, none stating how many people. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 0
- Human studies
- 1
- Found nothing
- 0
Dose
No human dose established
Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose.
1 completed trial, 0 people given it
3 effects reported, 2 unwanted, 1 wanted, by people using it, not a trial
Goal pages: Fat loss and metabolism
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
Danuglipron was Pfizer's daily GLP-1 pill. Pfizer stopped work on it in April 2025. Too many people quit because of side effects. Then one person showed signs of liver injury the drug may have caused. It will not be sold.
What people take it for
- A GLP-1 pill instead of a shot.
- Weight loss and lower blood sugar.
What studies in people showed
In people with type 2 diabetes, 16 weeks of it lowered blood sugar and weight more than a dummy pill. In adults with obesity, it took off a real amount of weight over about seven months. But more people quit because of side effects than expected, in every group. Then one person in a dosing study showed possible liver injury, and Pfizer ended the program.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- In the studies on this page, blood sugar and weight came down.
The bad
- More people quit because of side effects than expected, in every group of the obesity study.
- One person showed signs of liver injury the drug may have caused. That ended the program.
Where these come from: All of it is from the studies and the Pfizer release on this page. There are no user reports, because the drug was never sold.
My bottom line
A drug you cannot stay on does not work, however good the numbers look. This one is dead. Anything sold under this name is not it.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Measured in people
Goals Danuglipron has been tested for in people, biggest studies first. We count only what the studies on this page say, so the real numbers may be higher.
- Losing weightno headcount stated · 3 studies
- Blood sugar and insulinno headcount stated · 1 study
34 of the 36 indexed goals have no study of any kind behind Danuglipron
No study in people, animals or cells on this page reports a result for these. That does not prove Danuglipron does nothing for them. It does mean anything you have heard about Danuglipron and one of these did not come from a study cited here.
Show full evidence
What is Danuglipron?
Danuglipron is Pfizer's daily GLP-1 pill. Pfizer stopped work on it in 2025. Many people had stomach side effects, and one person showed possible liver injury.
Danuglipron was Pfizer's try at a GLP-1 pill, to compete with the shots. In studies it lowered blood sugar and took weight off. But many people had stomach side effects and quit. In April 2025, Pfizer stopped work on it after one person in a dosing study showed signs of liver injury the drug may have caused. It is on this site because it shows how hard it is to make a GLP-1 pill work.
How does Danuglipron work?
It turns on the GLP-1 signal like the shots do. The difference is that it is a small molecule you swallow, not a protein you inject.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
4studies in people cited, but none says how many people took part
number of people not stated
We do not draw a total, because none of the studies in people on this page gives one. Read the sources below for what each study measured.
We read the number of people from the source lines on this page. Where a line gives no number, we count nothing for it. We do not guess.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
All 4 sources here are studies in people.
- Study in people · done in people4100%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
The studies cover 3 different years, 2021 to 2025, counted from the list of sources on this page.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Not approved
UK
Not approved
AU
Not approved
CA
Not approved
Not approved in any of the four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 4 · how much does what
Nobody has tested different amounts in people
This chart would show how the effect changes as the amount goes up. For this compound, nobody has measured that in people. So we leave it empty. We will not borrow an animal chart and pretend it works the same in people.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Small molecule
- Molecule weight
- ~556 Da
- Half-life
- Stated in words, not a numbersee the exact wording below
- Chain length
- None on file
Half-life as stated on file: Short (was studied as daily dosing)
No amino acid sequence is on file for Danuglipron, which is expected: a small molecule is not built from amino acids.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2021Danuglipron (PF-06882961) in type 2 diabetes: a randomized, placebo-controlled, multiple ascending-dose phase 1 trial
The first time this pill was given to patients, blood sugar came down and so did weight. Studies at this stage are about finding a dose people can tolerate, in a handful of patients, over a short stretch. It told the company to keep going. It did not tell anybody that the drug works.
First-in-patient study of the oral small-molecule GLP-1 agonist, showing glucose lowering and weight loss.
- Study in people2023Efficacy and safety of oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist danuglipron for glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial
In people with type 2 diabetes, the pill moved everything in the right direction. Over 16 weeks it lowered average blood sugar, fasting blood sugar and body weight compared with a dummy. That is three things improving at once in a mid-sized trial. What happened to this drug afterwards is the part that matters, and it is in the entries below this one.
Reduced HbA1c, fasting glucose and body weight at 16 weeks versus placebo.
- Study in people2025Efficacy and safety of danuglipron (PF-06882961) in adults with obesity: a randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging phase 2b study
The weight loss was real and too many people quit to use it. Over roughly seven months the pill took off a meaningful amount of weight. But the number of people stopping because of side effects ran higher than expected in every group. A drug people cannot stay on does not work in practice, however good the weight numbers look on paper.
Clinically meaningful weight loss over 26 to 32 weeks, but discontinuations for adverse events were higher than anticipated in all groups.
- Study in people2025Pfizer provides update on oral GLP-1 receptor agonist danuglipron
Pfizer killed the drug. In April 2025 it stopped development after one participant in a dosing study showed signs of liver injury that the drug may have caused. One case was enough, because a daily pill meant for millions of otherwise healthy people has almost no room for liver risk. This is what a company walking away looks like.
April 14, 2025: development discontinued after a case of potential drug-induced liver injury in a dose-optimization study.
Common questions
Has Danuglipron been tested in people?
Yes. 0 people given it across 1 completed trial cited here, 0 of which found nothing. Danuglipron is Pfizer's daily GLP-1 pill. Pfizer stopped work on it in 2025. Many people had stomach side effects, and one person showed possible liver injury.
What is the Danuglipron dosage?
No human dose established. Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose. 1 completed trial, 0 people given it
Is Danuglipron FDA-approved?
Development discontinued; not approved
Why was danuglipron discontinued?
Too many people had stomach side effects and stopped taking it. Then one person showed signs of possible liver injury. Pfizer ended the program in April 2025. It shows how hard GLP-1 pills are to get right.
Latest reading on Danuglipron
Blog posts about Danuglipron, newest first.