Svetlana Mojsov: Unsung drug developer
How a biochemist finally gained recognition for her part in developing multibillion-dollar weight-loss drugs.
A new class of weight-loss drugs has swept into clinics and made medicines such as Ozempic and Wegovy household names. They have generated billions of dollars in profit for the pharmaceutical industry and brought scientific acclaim for the researchers credited with discovering the hormone behind them: an appetite suppressant called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
But there is one early pioneer who has not received due acknowledgement: Svetlana Mojsov.
A biochemist now at The Rockefeller University in New York City, Mojsov had a pivotal role in identifying and characterizing the active form of GLP-1. Yet her efforts went unrecognized in many accounts of the hormone’s discovery, and she has not shared the scientific prizes bestowed for that feat.
This year, Mojsov fought the entrenched narratives — and began to win wider recognition for her contributions to the field. “All I’m trying to do is put the scientific record straight,” she says.
Continue reading at Nature.
