Live data from Hacker News

Natural occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects

medicalxpress.com

1–10 of 394 posts

Re: Natural occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects

#4
post #2

What does "naturally occurring" mean in this context?

> Svensson has co-founded a company to launch clinical trials of the molecule in humans in the near future.

At least not so natural that just 'anybody' can put it in a bottle.

Re: Natural occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects

#6
post #3

If this really has the potential to compete with Ozempic, then it should have a noticeable impact on Novo Nordisk's stock value [1], but we're not seeing that yet. [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NVO/

The article refers to results in animals which means it is probably years - maybe a decade - from being approved. Novo’s patent protection expires in 2033 [0] so it could be that the market is not yet worried about a potential competitor that likely won’t get to market before the IP protection runs out.

[0]: https://www.reddie.co.uk/2024/08/30/the-year-of-ozempic-an-i...

Re: Natural occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects

#8
post #4
post #2

What does "naturally occurring" mean in this context?

> Svensson has co-founded a company to launch clinical trials of the molecule in humans in the near future. At least not so natural that just 'anybody' can put it in a bottle.

I think this is not really a charitable take. For one, nearly everything medical needs certain purity and concentration so you need specialized equipment. For two, even if a chemical is easy to produce by industrial standards, you still need to run trials to prove that it's both safe and actually does what you hope it does.

Re: Natural occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects

#9
post #5

Isn't the molecule in Ozempic naturally occurring too?

As far as I know GLP-1 is a naturally occurring hormone but it's not something you can just give people directly. Instead you give them artificial things like semaglutide that work on the same receptors.
Post reply on HN