Weight Loss Drug Ozempic’s Roots Trace Back to 1970s Hormone Research, Now Gaining Traction in India
New Delhi, October โข5, 2025 -โค The โburgeoning demand for โคweight โฃlossโ medications in India is spotlighting Ozempic, โคa drug initially developed for type 2 diabetes, and its remarkable journey from a fleeting hormone discovered โin the late 1970s to a globally impactful treatment. While recently gaining prominence in theโ Indian market, Ozempic’s story began with foundational research into gut hormones and decades of scientific refinement.
Theโค story begins in the late 1970s when scientists Jens Juul Holst and Joel Habener โขwhere exploring hormones released during digestion. โThey discovered glucagon-like peptide-1,or GLP-1,a hormone that plays a critical roleโ in regulating blood sugar by encouraging insulin release after eating.However, GLP-1 itself was not usable โas a medicine because it breaks down too quicklyโค in theโ body.
For โyears, scientists worked to overcome this limitation, seeking ways to create a stable and effective GLP-1-based medication. A key โขbreakthrough arrived in the late 1990s with the advancement of long-acting drugs like liraglutide.
Novo Nordisk โขscientists, including Jesper Lau and Paw Bloch, then engineered semaglutide – Ozempic’s active ingredient -โฃ as a next-generation medication. Semaglutide was designed to resist rapid breakdown by enzymes and to bind reversibly to albumin,a common blood protein,allowing it toโ circulate longer and work once a week instead โof โdaily. This involved subtle chemical tweaks to the natural GLP-1 โstructure to protect it from degradation whileโ maintaining high effectiveness. Preclinical tests in animals showed โpromising results withโ a longer half-life and strong interaction with GLP-1 receptors.
Large-scale clinical trials starting in 2016 confirmed that once-weekly semaglutide considerably lowered blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.Researchers also observed additional benefits, including weight loss and cardiovascular โคprotection.
Ozempic functions โby mimicking the effects of natural GLP-1: it boosts insulin release when blood sugar isโ high, suppresses glucagon secretion (wich raises bloodโค sugar), and slows stomach emptying to reduce appetite.this combinationโข helps stabilize blood sugar and supports weight management, critical for individuals living with diabetes.
Ozempic’s success represents โdecades of hormone research and innovativeโ chemical design, transforming a short-lived natural hormone into a powerful, convenient weekly treatment now impacting millions globally, including a growing number of patients in India.
Published By: Sibu Kumar Tripathi
Published On: Oct 5, 2025