Brand Names

What Is Trulicity?

Published May 2, 2026 · Updated Sep 12, 2026 · 7 minute read

Trulicity is Lilly’s once-weekly dulaglutide pen. This page is about the product: what it is approved for, the doses, the device, storage, the missed-dose rule, and the trials behind the label. For the molecule itself, see dulaglutide.

Medical Supervision Required:Peptide Tracker is for private logging, calculations, reminders, inventory records, and education. It is not medical advice, dosing instruction, prescribing guidance, diagnosis, or a substitute for a qualified healthcare professional.

Key Takeaways

  • Trulicity is dulaglutide in a single-dose weekly pen: 0.75, 1.5, 3, and 4.5 mg. Adults start at 0.75 mg and can go to 4.5 mg; children 10 to 17 stop at 1.5 mg.
  • It is approved for type 2 diabetes and, in adults with established cardiovascular disease or multiple risk factors, for reducing major cardiovascular events, on the strength of REWIND.
  • Keep it refrigerated. A pen can sit at room temperature up to 30 °C for a total of 14 days.
  • Missed a dose? Take it if at least 3 days remain before the next scheduled dose; otherwise skip.
  • The higher doses add glucose control and about 1.6 kg of extra weight loss over 1.5 mg, at the cost of more nausea. It has no weight-loss indication.
Trulicity
Active ingredient Dulaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist
Maker, approved Eli Lilly, 2014
Approved for Type 2 diabetes, adults and children 10+; reducing major cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease or multiple risk factors
Strengths 0.75, 1.5, 3, 4.5 mg in a single-dose pen
Adult ladder Start 0.75 mg; 1.5 mg after 4 weeks; then 1.5 mg steps at least 4 weeks apart; maximum 4.5 mg
Pediatric ladder Start 0.75 mg; maximum 1.5 mg
Injection Once weekly, any time, with or without food; abdomen, thigh, or upper arm
Missed dose Take if at least 3 days remain before the next dose; otherwise skip
Storage Refrigerate at 2 to 8 °C; up to 14 days total at room temperature below 30 °C; never freeze
Half-life About 5 days

1. What It Is Approved For

The current label, revised March 2026, lists two indications. First, as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults and pediatric patients 10 years and older with type 2 diabetes. Second, to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, meaning cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack, or non-fatal stroke, in adults with type 2 diabetes who have established cardiovascular disease or multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

The second indication is broader than Ozempic’s, which requires established cardiovascular disease. Trulicity’s covers people with risk factors only, because that is who REWIND enrolled.

Trulicity has no weight-management indication. There is no dulaglutide product for obesity.

2. The Evidence Behind the Label

12.0% vs 13.4%major cardiovascular events on Trulicity 1.5 mg versus placebo in REWIND: 9,901 adults, median 5.4 years, hazard ratio 0.88.
−1.77 ppHbA1c reduction at 36 weeks on 4.5 mg in AWARD-11, against −1.54 on 1.5 mg, from a baseline of 8.6%.
−4.6 kgweight change at 36 weeks on 4.5 mg in AWARD-11, against −3.0 kg on 1.5 mg.

REWIND is the cardiovascular trial. Most of its participants had risk factors but no prior cardiovascular event, which is why the label’s wording includes “multiple cardiovascular risk factors”. All-cause death was 10.8% versus 12.0%, not a significant difference. Gastrointestinal events were reported by 47% on dulaglutide versus 34% on placebo.

AWARD-11 is the reason the pen now goes to 4.5 mg. 1,842 adults on metformin were randomised to 1.5, 3, or 4.5 mg for 52 weeks. Both higher doses beat 1.5 mg on HbA1c and weight at 36 weeks. Nausea rose with dose: 13.4%, 15.6%, 16.4%. Vomiting: 5.6%, 8.3%, 9.3%.

AWARD-PEDS supports the pediatric indication: in 154 children and adolescents aged 10 to 17, HbA1c fell 0.6 points on 0.75 mg and 0.9 on 1.5 mg while rising 0.6 on placebo over 26 weeks.

3. The Dose Ladder

Step Adults Children 10 to 17
Start 0.75 mg weekly 0.75 mg weekly
After at least 4 weeks 1.5 mg 1.5 mg, the maximum
After at least 4 more weeks, if needed 3 mg
After at least 4 more weeks, if needed 4.5 mg, the maximum

Each step is a separate pen strength; there is no dialing. The titration schedule tool does not model Trulicity, but the ladder is simple enough to log by hand.

4. The Pen, Storage, and a Missed Dose

Device. Trulicity comes only as a single-dose, single-use pen at each of the four strengths. The needle is pre-attached and hidden. Inject in the abdomen, thigh, or upper arm, and rotate sites.

Storage. Refrigerate at 36 to 46 °F (2 to 8 °C). If needed, a pen may be kept at room temperature, not above 86 °F (30 °C), for a total of 14 days. Do not freeze; a frozen pen must not be used. Keep the pen in its carton until use to protect it from light.

Missed dose. The label’s rule is written forward from the next dose, like Wegovy’s: administer the missed dose as soon as possible if there are at least 3 days (72 hours) until the next scheduled dose. If fewer than 3 days remain, skip it. The missed-dose helper covers the semaglutide and tirzepatide rules, which differ.

5. Safety

The label opens with the class boxed warning: dulaglutide causes thyroid C-cell tumors in rats, and Trulicity is contraindicated in anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2. It also warns on acute pancreatitis, hypoglycemia when combined with insulin or a sulfonylurea, hypersensitivity, acute kidney injury from dehydration, severe gastrointestinal reactions, diabetic retinopathy complications, acute gallbladder disease, and pulmonary aspiration under anaesthesia. The most common adverse reactions, at 5% or more, are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite.

Because Trulicity slows gastric emptying, it can slow absorption of oral drugs taken at the same time; the label asks for monitoring of narrow-therapeutic-index medicines. Unlike the tirzepatide labels, it has no specific oral-contraceptive instruction.

6. How It Compares

Trulicity Ozempic Mounjaro
Molecule Dulaglutide Semaglutide Tirzepatide
Top dose 4.5 mg 2 mg 15 mg
CV indication Established CVD or multiple risk factors Established CVD High CV risk
Head-to-head with dulaglutide SUSTAIN 7: semaglutide 1 mg −1.8 vs −1.4 pp HbA1c; −6.5 vs −3.0 kg SURPASS-CVOT: 12.2% vs 13.1% MACE, HR 0.92, non-inferior
Pediatric use 10+ No 10+

Neither head-to-head used Trulicity’s 3 or 4.5 mg doses, which came later. Trulicity’s practical advantages are a pen that needs no dialing and a cardiovascular indication that reaches people with risk factors only.

7. Tracking Note

Log the same four things as any weekly pen: product, date, milligrams, and site, plus any side effect during a step up. How GLP-1 tracking works covers the record; the half-life visualizer plots the 5-day curve.

8. Trulicity FAQ

  • What is Trulicity used for?

    Two labeled uses. With diet and exercise to improve blood sugar in adults and children 10 and older with type 2 diabetes, and in adults with type 2 diabetes who have established cardiovascular disease or multiple risk factors, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack, or stroke. It is not approved for weight loss.

  • What do I do if I miss a Trulicity dose?

    The label says to take the missed dose as soon as possible if there are at least 3 days (72 hours) until the next scheduled dose. If less than 3 days remain, skip it and take the next dose on the usual day.

  • How long can Trulicity stay out of the fridge?

    Each single-dose pen can be kept at room temperature, not above 86 °F (30 °C), for a total of 14 days. Do not freeze it, and do not use a pen that has been frozen. Keep it in the carton to protect it from light.

  • How is Trulicity different from Ozempic and Mounjaro?

    Different molecules. Trulicity is dulaglutide, Ozempic is semaglutide, Mounjaro is tirzepatide. All three are weekly pens for type 2 diabetes with cardiovascular indications. In head-to-head trials, semaglutide lowered HbA1c and weight more than dulaglutide (SUSTAIN 7), and tirzepatide matched dulaglutide on cardiovascular outcomes (SURPASS-CVOT).

  • What are the main side effects?

    Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite are the common ones, mostly during dose increases. In AWARD-11, nausea ran 13% at 1.5 mg and 16% at 4.5 mg. The label carries the class boxed warning on thyroid C-cell tumors and warnings on pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, severe gastrointestinal reactions, kidney injury from dehydration, and hypoglycemia with insulin or sulfonylureas.

9. Sources

References used for this article

Download for iOS