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Brand Spotlight: Novo Nordisk’s Semaglutide

In Vivo’s ‘Brand Spotlight’ provides an in-depth look at individual brands with unique or exemplary product journeys – from novel development programs to formidable commercial strategies.

 
• By Ben Comer

Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, a GLP-1 agonist marketed in an injected formulation as Ozempic, and an oral tablet form as Rybelsus, is a success story with the potential for an epic third act. First approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, semaglutide is under FDA review as a treatment for obesity, with additional clinical programs in NASH and Alzheimer’s disease. 

semaglutide molecule
Novo's semaglutide molecule keeps on giving

The first glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapy to enter the market, in 2005, was a synthetic version of a unique peptide hormone found in the venom of Gila monster. That hormone – named exendin-4 by Dr. John Eng, a New York-based endocrinologist who discovered it in 1990 – eventually became Byetta (exenatide; Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly) and marked the launch of a new diabetes product category that would grow to be worth over $12bn in 2020. 

The category is still growing (see sidebar), with GLP-1 therapy development expanding into areas adjacent to diabetes, such as obesity,...

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