GLP-1 agonists for diabetes and obesity (semaglutide, tirzepatide)
Agonistas de GLP-1 para diabetes y obesidad (semaglutida, tirzepatida)
- Date
- 2017-2021 · confidence high
- Place
- Novo Nordisk, Bagsværd, Denmark; Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, United States
- Credited to
- Lotte Bjerre Knudsen (Novo Nordisk); Ozempic (2017) and Wegovy (2021); Daniel Drucker, Joel Habener and Jens Juul Holst (GLP-1 biology); Lilly (Mounjaro/Zepbound, 2022)
- People
- 👤 Daniel J. Drucker1956–👤 Jens Juul Holst1945–👤 Joel Habener1937–2025👤 Lotte Bjerre Knudsen1964–
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Modified gut hormones that regulate glucose and appetite, with weight loss of 15 to 20 per cent. They turned obesity into a pharmacologically treatable disease.
What it led to
- The transformation of the Danish economy and the pharmaceutical market
- Effects on the food industry and on cardiovascular and kidney health
- The debate over access, shortages and cosmetic use
Built on
- Recombinant human insulin1978-1982
- recombinant insulin
- exenatide (Gila monster venom)
- peptide chemistry
Made possible
- Oral GLP-1 drugs
- addiction treatments (in trials)