Survodutide is an acylated dual agonist of the glucagon and GLP-1 receptors, cited as BI 456906 in the preclinical literature, built on a glucagon-superfamily backbone with protease-resistant substitutions and a fatty-acid side chain for albumin binding. Its defining feature is which two receptors it engages: unlike tirzepatide, which pairs GLP-1 with GIP, survodutide pairs GLP-1 with glucagon, adding a direct hepatic and energy-expenditure component. We supply research-grade survodutide as lyophilized powder in sealed vials, for laboratory investigation only.
Survodutide is investigational. It has no marketing approval anywhere as of 2026, and research-grade material is a reference chemical rather than a medicine.
What is survodutide, precisely
Survodutide belongs to the GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist class, sometimes described as glucagon-containing duals to distinguish them from the GIP-containing duals. The chemistry is possible because glucagon and GLP-1 are both cleaved from the same precursor, proglucagon, and share substantial sequence homology — roughly half their residues align. That homology means a single engineered sequence can hold measurable affinity at both receptors, with the substitution pattern determining the balance between them.
Reported characterisation describes survodutide as GLP-1-receptor-weighted, with meaningful but lower relative potency at the glucagon receptor. That weighting is deliberate: glucagon receptor agonism raises hepatic glucose output as well as energy expenditure, so the incretin arm has to be strong enough to keep the glycaemic consequence in check.
Origin and structure
- Backbone. A glucagon-superfamily peptide sequence, engineered from the shared proglucagon pharmacophore rather than from either hormone unmodified.
- Protease-resistant substitutions. Non-proteinogenic residues near the N-terminus block dipeptidyl peptidase-4 cleavage, the same strategy used across the incretin analog class.
- Fatty-acid acylation. A lipid side chain attached through a spacer confers reversible albumin binding, extending circulating persistence from minutes to a duration measured in days in published pharmacokinetic work.
- Catalog identifiers. CAS 2360883-97-4; also cited as BI 456906. Molecular weight is not listed on our specification sheet, so laboratories requiring an exact mass for molar calculations should work from the lot-specific certificate of analysis rather than a nominal figure.
How survodutide is thought to work
Both target receptors are class B G-protein-coupled receptors that couple to Gs and raise intracellular cAMP, but they sit on different tissues and produce different downstream biology.
The GLP-1 receptor arm behaves as in any incretin agonist: glucose-dependent amplification of insulin secretion in islet preparations, and engagement of hindbrain, hypothalamic and vagal receptor populations associated in rodent studies with reduced food intake and slowed gastric transit. The glucagon receptor arm acts most prominently on hepatocytes, where published work has reported increased fatty-acid oxidation, altered hepatic lipid handling and raised whole-body energy expenditure in preclinical models. Glucagon receptors are also expressed in adipose tissue and kidney, and the relative contribution of non-hepatic populations remains an open question in the literature.
The mechanistic bet behind the whole class is that the two arms have opposing glycaemic effects that cancel while their effects on energy balance add. Testing that proposition — establishing at what receptor occupancy the cancellation stops holding — is one of the main reasons a laboratory would choose this molecule over a GLP-1 mono-agonist.
Experimentally, the glucagon arm is the reason to buy this molecule and also the reason to design carefully around it. Glucagon receptor pharmacology diverges more across species than GLP-1 receptor pharmacology, so a potency ratio measured at rodent receptors should not be assumed to hold at human ones. Any study attributing an observed effect to the glucagon component is stronger for including a glucagon receptor antagonist arm or a GLP-1 mono-agonist comparator, since without one of those controls the result is indistinguishable from a pure incretin effect at higher occupancy.
What research has examined
- Receptor and cell studies. cAMP potency and binding assays at human GCGR and GLP-1R in recombinant systems, establishing the activity ratio; beta-arrestin recruitment work characterising signalling profile.
- Rodent studies. Diet-induced obesity models measuring food intake and body composition, indirect calorimetry probing the energy-expenditure component attributable to the glucagon arm, and hepatic lipid content studies in models of steatosis.
- Human clinical trials. Phase 2 data have been published in obesity and in liver-related endpoints, with later-stage programmes ongoing as of 2026. These describe an investigational pharmaceutical administered under clinical supervision; they do not transfer to research-grade material.
Hepatic endpoints are the most distinctive strand of survodutide research, because a glucagon-receptor-containing agonist acts on liver directly rather than through downstream metabolic consequences. For where the class sits in the wider field, see our comparison of the next generation of GLP-1 molecules and the incretin pathway hub.
A note on nomenclature that trips up literature searches. Papers on this class use several overlapping labels — GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist, glucagon-containing dual, oxyntomodulin analog and proglucagon receptor co-agonist — sometimes interchangeably and sometimes to draw a real distinction about backbone origin. Survodutide is engineered from the shared proglucagon pharmacophore rather than from an oxyntomodulin template, which is a genuine structural difference from mazdutide even though both molecules hit the same two receptors. When comparing published potency values, confirm which backbone the paper is describing before treating two numbers as comparable, and note whether the assay used a recombinant overexpression line or a primary cell with native receptor density.
Forms and sizes we supply
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Form | Lyophilized powder, sealed glass vial with flip-off seal |
| Sizes | 5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg |
| Purity | Greater than or equal to 99% by HPLC, lot-matched COA |
| CAS | 2360883-97-4 |
| Also cited as | BI 456906 |
| Class | Acylated dual glucagon / GLP-1 receptor agonist |
| Solubility | Bacteriostatic water; dilute alkaline or phosphate buffers also used |
| Intended use | Laboratory research only |
Sizes and current pricing are listed on the survodutide product page, within the GLP-1 and incretin peptides collection.
Reconstitution and storage in a lab context
Reconstitution is a concentration calculation. A 10 mg vial brought up in 2 mL of bacteriostatic water yields 5 mg/mL, equal to 5,000 mcg/mL, so 0.1 mL of that solution carries 500 mcg of peptide. Where an assay requires a buffer rather than bacteriostatic water, dilute alkaline or phosphate buffers are commonly used for this class; check compatibility with your detection chemistry before committing a vial.
Introduce diluent gently against the vial wall, swirl rather than shake, and confirm complete clarity. Store sealed lyophilized powder at minus 20 degrees Celsius protected from light and moisture, and hold reconstituted solution at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, protected from light, for use within the study window. Aliquot at reconstitution so repeated freeze-thaw rounds do not degrade the remaining stock. See our reconstitution guide.
Purity, COA and how to read it
Expect an HPLC chromatogram with main-peak area percentage, a mass spectrometry identity result, net peptide content, lot number and analysis date. Survodutide warrants closer identity scrutiny than better-known molecules for a simple commercial reason: the glucagon-containing duals are structurally similar to one another and less familiar to buyers, so identity confirmation against a stated theoretical mass carries more weight than a purity percentage alone. Where our specification sheet does not list a molecular weight, the lot certificate is the authoritative source for molar work. Our guide to reading a COA covers what to demand.
For laboratories building a comparison set, survodutide occupies a specific slot rather than a general one. It answers questions about what glucagon receptor engagement adds to incretin signalling, and it answers them at a fixed receptor ratio that cannot be varied. Where the ratio itself is the variable of interest, separate agonists administered together give control that a single molecule cannot, at the cost of divergent pharmacokinetics that a fixed-ratio ligand avoids. Choosing between those two designs, rather than choosing between molecules, is usually the decision that determines whether a study answers its question.
Regulatory status
Survodutide is investigational, with no marketing approval in any jurisdiction as of 2026. Research-grade survodutide is supplied as a laboratory reference chemical, labelled research use only, not approved or formulated for administration to humans or animals. Published trial data describe a clinical trial product under regulatory oversight and create no human-use pathway for research material — see research use only, explained.
Related peptides and comparisons
The closest structural relative in our range is mazdutide, an oxyntomodulin-based GLP-1/glucagon dual, compared directly in survodutide vs mazdutide. For a triple agonist that adds GIP to the same two receptors see retatrutide; for the GIP-containing dual, tirzepatide.