In the past few years, weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have been all over the news, whether in health and fitness articles, celebrity gossip magazines, or even analyses of how they might improve productivity and fuel economic growth.
The class of weight loss drugs known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists owe their existence to an unusual source: the venom of the Gila monster, a large orange and black lizard native to the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. This is all the more surprising as Gila monster bites are excruciatingly painful (though rarely fatal) to humans.
It turns out that there are proteins in Gila monster venom that resemble the human hormone GLP-1, which triggers insulin secretion and contributes to appetite suppression, slower digestion, and blood sugar regulation. However, unlike human GLP-1, the Gila monster version isn’t broken down as quickly.
Drawing on the work of John Eng, Jean-Pierre Raufman, and John Pisano in the 1980s and 1990s, University of Toronto endocrinologist Daniel Drucker led a team that explored the action of exendin-4, a hormone-like protein in Gila monster venom that has similar qualities to human GLP-1 but is much longer lasting. In 2005, the FDA approved a synthetic version to treat type 2 diabetes, and its use was later expanded to an obesity treatment.
It’s worth noting that Ozempic is not approved for weight loss (though it’s sometimes prescribed off-label for this purpose). However, in larger doses, Ozempic’s active ingredient, semaglutide, has been approved for weight loss and is sold in larger doses under the name Wegovy.
Incredible medicines from strange and scary creatures:
- Lisinopril, widely prescribed to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, helps to increase blood flow. The natural form originates from enzyme inhibitors found in the venom of the Brazilian pit viper, which the snake uses to help deliver venom to its prey.
- Nucleosides produced by Tectitethya crypta, a sponge found in the Caribbean Sea, were used to create the chemotherapy drug cytarabine and the antiviral drug vidarabine.
- The deathstalker scorpion produces venom containing chlorotoxin, a peptide that binds to ion channels in cancer cells. A synthetic version of this molecule, known as tozuleristide, can be viewed under near-infrared light, making it a useful imaging tool for locating cancer cells (especially in the brain) that might otherwise be missed.
