The Journal. cover image

The Journal.

Trillion Dollar Shot, Episode 1: Birth of a Blockbuster

May 13, 2024
Meet Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, a young scientist at Novo Nordisk focusing on GLP-1 for diabetes treatment. Dive into the story of a breakthrough drug, Ozempic, and the race for a trillion-dollar market cap. Explore the impact of weight loss medications and the evolution of Simeglotide from diabetes treatment to weight loss solution.
40:51

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic were developed for diabetes but transitioned to obesity treatment, showcasing significant weight loss effects.
  • The success of GLP-1 drugs has led to a booming market with societal impacts, but ethical concerns arise over high costs and off-label prescriptions for weight loss.

Deep dives

The Development of GLP-1 Drugs for Diabetes Treatment

The podcast delves into the story of how GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic, were developed to treat diabetes. It follows the journey of the scientist Lauda Bier-Konutsen at Novo Nordisk in the 1990s as she worked on creating a compound mimicking the GLP-1 hormone. Despite setbacks, including tumorigenesis concerns in animal studies, the team eventually succeeded with a long-acting GLP-1 compound, leading to the approval of Liraglutide in 2010.

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