Billions of dollars are spent annually on diabetes medication, and the most famous of them is Ozempic. I bet you’ve heard of Ozempic, and maybe you even know how it works. But, do you know how Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs were discovered?
The story of Ozempic’s development begins in the 1980s, when Dr. John Pisano and Dr. Jean-Pierre Raufman were doing research on insect and reptile venoms at the National Institute of Health. They were very interested in the venom from a lizard called the Gila monster, which can slow down its metabolism and keep its blood sugar levels constant even after not eating for a long period of time. Pisano and Raufman discovered that the Gila monster venom had a pronounced effect on the pancreas, causing it to release digestive enzymes.
Raufman and Pisano’s discovery captured the attention of Dr. John Eng, an endocrinologist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx, who worked to isolate the compound in the lizard’s venom that is responsible for the secretion of pancreatic digestive enzymes. Eng and Raufmen worked together to isolate and identify a novel, hormone-like compound within the venom, which they called exendin-4. Through experimenting with exendin-4, they found that this compound stimulated insulin secretion through the same pathway as the receptor GLP-1 (a hormone produced by the pancreas that stimulates insulin secretion and inhibits glucagon, leading to lower blood glucose levels). Interestingly, it was found that exendin-4 does not get metabolized quickly by the body, suggesting that it has the potential to be used as a therapeutic drug for diabetes.
Unsurprisingly, many pharmaceutical companies were concerned about investing in research that would involve injections of a compound from a venomous lizard. So, Eng and Raufman started their own company, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, to show that exendin-4 could be both safe and effective as a diabetic therapeutic drug. They created a synthetic copy of exendin-4 to utilize in treating diabetes in a drug called exenatide and showed that it could rapidly normalize blood glucose levels in mice with type two diabetes. In 2005, after much more testing of the drug, the FDA approved the use of exenatide for human use.
Shortly after exenatide entered the market, it became clear that it was not only reversing diabetic symptoms, but also causing sustained weight loss in around five percent of users. Further research and development from several other companies led to the eventual development of Ozempic, which is sold on the market today.
The conception of Ozempic would not be possible without the curiosity-driven research conducted by Raufman, Pisano, and Eng on Gila monsters. It is a superb reminder that innovation often comes from the most unlikely places, and that nature holds numerous hidden treasures that are waiting to be discovered.
Be First to Comment