Semaglutide

A semaglutide (Ozempic) pen used for injecting the medication.

Semaglutide (sold as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus) is a medication. It can be used to treat type 2 diabetes and help people lose weight. It can be injected under the skin or taken as tablets that a person eats. It is sold as a generic drug in India and Canada. In the United States, the FDA has also approved it to treat MASLD, a type of liver disease.

Semaglutide is a peptide. It is similar to a hormone named glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). It can active the receptor for GLP-1 in the body because it is so similar. This causes lower blood sugar and appetite. Some people have side effects when taking semaglutide. Some of these are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation.

Many countries have approved medical use of semaglutide. The United States approved it in 2017, and Canada, the European Union and Japan approved it in 2018. Australia approved it in 2019. As of 2023, It is one of most common prescription medications in the United States. There are more than 25 million prescriptions for semaglutide in the US.

History

In the 1970s, Jens Juul Holst and Joel Habener started researching GLP-1. They wanted to know if it was related to duodenal ulcer disease. They looked at hormones that the body released when eating. In 1988, they tested them on pig pancreases and saw that GLP-1 had many effects. They saw that GLP-1 helped release insulin. It also helped to stop glucagon from being released. They earned many awards for their work.

In 1993, Michael Nauck put GLP-1 into people with type 2 diabetes. This made their blood sugar levels normal. However, this caused many side effects. Novo Nordisk paid researchers to find a chemical that people could use as a medication. In 1998, Novo Nordisk made liraglutide. Lotte Bjerre Knudsen led the team that made it. Liraglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist. It helps activate the receptors that GLP-1 targets to have the same effects. Liraglutide can be used to treat diabetes. Later, a team of researchers at Novo Nordisk made semaglutide.

Clinical trials

In June 2008, a phase II clinical trial for semaglutide started. It was used as a diabetes treatment taken once a week. It had a longer effect than liraglutide. It was named Ozempic. Later clinical trials happened in 2016 and 2017.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved semaglutide in 2017. They approved it because clinical trials showed that it helped people with type 2 diabetes. They used evidence from seven clinical trials. The trials happened in many places in 33 countries, such as the United States, Mexico, Canada, India, Japan, and many European countries. All of the people in the trials had type 2 diabetes. In two of the trials, people in the trial were given either a semaglutide injection or an injection that did nothing. The treatment was given for 30 weeks. In the other five trials, people were given either semaglutide or another medication for diabetes. In every trial, researchers checked every person's A1c (a test for average blood sugar level for 2 to 3 months) at the start and end of treatment.

References

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  3. ↑ "Rybelsus – oral semaglutide tablet". DailyMed. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  4. ↑ "FDA Approves Treatment for Serious Liver Disease Known as 'MASH'". U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 15 August 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2026. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ↑ Goldenberg, Ronald M.; Steen, Oren (March 2019). "Semaglutide: Review and Place in Therapy for Adults With Type 2 Diabetes". Canadian Journal of Diabetes. 43 (2): 136–145. doi:10.1016/j.jcjd.2018.05.008. PMID 30195966. Archived from the original on 2025-04-12.
  6. ↑ Doggrell SA (March 2018). "Semaglutide in type 2 diabetes – is it the best glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1R agonist)?" (PDF). Expert Opinion on Drug Metabolism & Toxicology. 14 (3): 371–377. doi:10.1080/17425255.2018.1441286. PMID 29439603. S2CID 3421553. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
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  9. ↑ "Ozempic approved in Japan for the treatment of type 2 diabetes" (Press release). Novo Nordisk. 23 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
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  14. ↑ Lau J, Bloch P, Schäffer L, Pettersson I, Spetzler J, Kofoed J, Madsen K, Knudsen LB, McGuire J, Steensgaard DB, Strauss HM, Gram DX, Knudsen SM, Nielsen FS, Thygesen P, Reedtz-Runge S, Kruse T (September 2015). "Discovery of the Once-Weekly Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) Analogue Semaglutide". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 58 (18): 7370–7380. doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00726. PMID 26308095. S2CID 20228358.
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  16. ↑ "A Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial in Type 2 Diabetes Comparing Semaglutide to Placebo and Liraglutide". ClinicalTrials.gov. August 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
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  18. ↑ "Efficacy and Safety of Semaglutide Versus Dulaglutide as add-on to Metformin in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes. (SUSTAIN 7)". ClinicalTrials.gov. October 2019. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
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