The GLP-1 scientists, Akiko Iwasaki, Michael J. Fox, Hadiza Galadanci, Vivek Murthy +92 more
Jens Juul Holst, Joel Habener, Svetlana Mojsov, and Dan Drucker PAVING THE WAY FOR WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS
If [GLP-1 drugs] show benefit for even half of these conditions, then that will be a tremendous win for people struggling with them.' -DAN DRUCKER
Newly powerful weight-loss drugs became the biggest story in health in the past year-and Jens Juul Holst, Joel Habener, Svetlana Mojsov, and Dan Drucker played pivotal roles in making those medications possible. The scientists conducted the early work, beginning in the 1970s, on glucagon-like peptides, or GLPs, that first transformed the treatment of diabetes and now that of obesity.
As with many groundbreaking medical developments, it was a group effort. Holst, at the University of Copenhagen, noticed that after intestinal surgery, patients' levels of insulin soared while their blood-sugar levels dropped; he attributed the changes to several gut-related hormones, including glucagon, which is made in the pancreas. Around the same time, an ocean and a continent away in Boston, Habener and Drucker worked with animals in the lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and identified new types of glucagon hormones that they called GLP-1 and GLP-2. Mojsov, a chemist two floors away, also independently identified the active portion of GLP-1, which is mimicked in the new weight-loss drugs as the key compound in Ozempic and Wegovy (made by Novo Nordisk) and one of two main compounds in Mounjaro and Zepbound (made by Eli Lilly). Mojsov produced large amounts of the peptide and developed antibodies to stick to them. The trio eventually collaborated on critical scientific papers that described the active part of GLP-1 in the guts of rats, and documented that increasing GLP-1 levels corresponded to increasing levels of insulin.
This story is from the May 13, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 13, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Exhibition showcases ancient splendor
A captivating exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco offers a clue to the vibrant Bronze Age cultures that flourished along the Yangtze River more than 2,000 years ago.
Flights of kites
An ancient folk craft tradition floats across time and still soars to new heights in modern times
What does a biopic owe its subject?
AMY WINEHOUSE WROTE SONGS THAT CUT TO THE CORE of heartbreak and sang them in a voice as supple and sturdy as raw silk.
On the road again with Mad Max's mastermind
GEORGE MILLER HAS SPENT MORE THAN 40 YEARS swerving in and out of the post apocalyptic world of Mad Max.
TV'S ENDLESS HOLOCAUST
A surge of World War II dramas fails to connect with the present
your toxic life
AN INDEPENDENT LAB HAS MADE A BUSINESS OF EXPOSING WHAT’S REALLY INSIDE EVERYDAY PRODUCTS
NEXT GENERATION LEADERS
11 trailblazers who are challenging the status quo, leading with empathy, and forging solutions for a brighter future
Uranium dreams
The promise of clean nuclear power brings the West to Mongolia
Why the Westminster Dog Show made me appreciate mutts
I SPENT THREE YEARS AMONG DOGS WITH BLOODLINES like British royalty.
CO₂ Leadership Brief
ON MAY 1, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR Jerome Powell offered a two-part message to eager interest- rate watchers.