The GLP-1 weight loss revolution
By 
Rachel Brazil2024-08-28T07:46:00
Glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist drugs, such as semaglutide, could save countless lives at risk due to diabetes and obesity. Rachel Brazil looks at the difficulties in making the peptides themselves, and what’s coming next
The chances are that you’ve already heard of semaglutide or one of the other drugs that replicates the action of the natural hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1. They’ve been widely covered in the global media as they may revolutionise weight loss, and with an estimated one billion people in the world believed to be obese, it is one of the leading causes of preventable death.
GLP-1 is released in the gut in the presence of glucose and stimulates the release of insulin from pancreatic B cells, enabling fine control of blood sugar levels. The first drug targeting the GLP-1 receptor was exenatide, released in 2005 to treat type II diabetes. It was discovered in the saliva of the Gila monster, a venomous lizard found in the American southwest, although no one knows why the lizard produces a molecule that replicates the action of GLP-1 when injected twice a day. For at least 20 years, pharma companies led by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have been trying to find a better alternative. Novo Nordisk was first to hit the jack pot with semaglutide, approved to treat diabetes in the UK in 2019 (as Ozempic).