This record provides bibliographic details and links to the original research. An editorial study breakdown is not available.
What the researchers found
Systematic optimization of fatty acid acylation transformed GLP-1 from a 1.5-minute half-life peptide into once-daily liraglutide (C16, 13h) and once-weekly semaglutide (C18 diacid, 165h).
Why it matters
Definitive account of how lipidation chemistry created the most commercially successful peptide drugs in history.
The numbers in context
GLP-1 native: 1.5 min; liraglutide: C16, 13h half-life; semaglutide: C18 diacid, 165h half-life; 5.6x albumin affinity increase
How the study worked
Historical review of drug discovery and development at Novo Nordisk.
What this study cannot tell us
Industry-authored review.
Read the original research
The Discovery and Development of Liraglutide and Semaglutide.
Frontiers in endocrinology, 10, 155
Citation
Knudsen, Lotte Bjerre; Lau, Jesper. (2019). The Discovery and Development of Liraglutide and Semaglutide.. Frontiers in endocrinology, 10, 155. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2019.00155