The Story The woman erased from the Ozempic story - The Sunday Story
Jan 18, 2026
Aimee Donnellan, journalist and author of 'Off the Scales,' dives into the overlooked story of Svetlana Mojsov, a biochemist who discovered GLP-1. Aimee reveals how Mojsov’s groundbreaking work in diabetes treatment was overshadowed, leading to her erasure from a narrative dominated by male accolades. They discuss the complexities of patent disputes, the systemic gender bias in science known as the Matilda effect, and the commercial dynamics surrounding GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, exposing both their benefits and societal consequences.
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Lab Discovery Of GLP-1
- Svetlana Mojsov chemically created GLP-1 in the 1980s and showed it regulates blood sugar like a thermostat.
- Her lab work made later diabetes and weight-loss drugs possible by proving GLP-1's fundamental action.
Rat Pancreas Experiment
- Mojsov infused her synthetic GLP-1 into an isolated rat pancreas to prove it lowered blood sugar.
- She published a landmark paper from those experiments that helped define GLP-1's role.
Parallel Lab Race
- GLP-1 research unfolded as a competitive, parallel effort between labs in Boston and Copenhagen.
- Participants now view the discovery as a collective achievement rather than the work of a single winner.
