Millions of people receive best-selling drugs to treat their obesity or diabetes, such as Ozempic, a drug from the Danish company Novo Nordisk that since its authorization in 2018 has generated a global expectation that has not been remembered since Viagra. American chemistry Svetlana Mojsovborn 77 years ago in Skopje (in the former Yugoslavia, today North Macedonia), led some of the first investigations in the 1980s. Mojsov discovered the active sequence of an intestinal hormone, GLP-1, which stimulates the pancreas to release more insulin when blood sugar is high. That discovery made it possible for Novo Nordisk to develop Ozempic and for other pharmaceutical companies to create similar medications, in a market that today moves billions of euros each year, but Mojsov’s name was erased from history.
Three other scientists have since won awards for the discovery of the GLP-1 hormone: the Americans Joel Habener and Daniel Drucker and the Dane Jens Juul Holst, who also had valuable roles in the research. This Wednesday, the Princess of Asturias Foundation announced that it was once again awarding the three, but this time adding Svetlana Mojsov, from Rockefeller University, in New York, and the American doctor Jeffrey M. Friedman, who discovered leptin in 1994. another hormone that regulates appetite. After decades of oblivion, Mojsov celebrates in a telephone interview with EL PAÍS that she is reminded of her essential role in one of the medical revolutions of the 21st century.
Ask. You helped discover the hormone GLP-1. Why has it been erased from your history?
Answer. I don’t know, I really don’t know. It’s a question I always asked myself and I don’t have an answer, but now I’m very happy. There were many articles in scientific journals that misrepresented or minimized my work. I wrote them letters to correct that information. The first one was in the magazine cell and They published a correction immediately, in just two months. I also asked for a correction to Nature, and they also published it in September. I’m surprised that no one noticed this, until a journalist from the magazine Science discovered my story and wrote an articleso I am grateful to science journalists.
Q. Do you think this erasure of history has anything to do with you being a woman and the other three being men?
R. I always get asked this question and I don’t think I know. Maybe. I never felt that being a woman was an obstacle to achieving professional success. When I came to Rockefeller University I never felt that way. So much Bruce Merrifieldwho directed my doctoral thesis, as Ralph Steinmanin whose department I worked for 20 years, supported women scientists [ambos ganaron después el Nobel]. They supported me a lot, so I don’t know. I really don’t know, I say it honestly. But I also have to say that many women have written to me telling me that they identify with my story. There seems to be a certain percentage of women who feel that their contributions are minimized by men as well.
Q. You learned in 1996 that the patents for GLP-1 had been granted to Joel Habener, of Massachusetts General Hospital, as sole inventor. What did he feel?
R. I was very surprised, but I didn’t get angry. I was simply surprised by that omission. The only way to try to correct that was to work with a law firm, but even then it took 10 years. I was very surprised. People asked me if I did it for money, but that wasn’t it, really. I already knew that Novo Nordisk was working on it and was confident that GLP-1 would become a new drug in the future, but it never crossed my mind that it would make so much money. These drugs were not normally bestsellers, so it was not an economic issue. In fact, the patents did not generate much money, because the first authorized drug, liraglutide or Victozawas released in 2010 and the patent expired in 2012. So there were only two years of exploitation rights, at the beginning of everything, a time that had nothing to do with what is happening now.
Q. This year sales of 24,000 million euros for Novo Nordisk for its drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. Both mimic the activity of GLP-1. You don’t get a percentage?
R. No, no, nothing, nothing. The truth is that I didn’t get into science to make money, I just wanted to make some important discovery and I accomplished my goal, so I’m very happy. If I had wanted to make money I would have dedicated myself to finance.
Q. In October you will come to Spain for the awards ceremony in Oviedo and Joel Habener will be there. What is your relationship like?
R. We haven’t spoken in 30 years, we have no relationship. Each one went their own way. We’ll see how it goes.
Q. Would Ozempic exist without the pioneering work of Svetlana Mojsov?
R. The answer is not yes or no. I discovered the active sequence of GLP-1, but this active form, GLP-1 (7-37), was not very stable. At Novo Nordisk they took this active sequence and made it more stable in the blood. First we had liraglutide or Victoza, which was injected once a day, and now we have Ozempic, which is even more stable. Novo Nordisk’s contribution was very important and must be given credit. I think it has to be seen as a collaborative effort.
Q. The Nobel Prize admits a maximum number of three winners. The Princess of Asturias has awarded five people. Which two would you remove?
R. I don’t think about prizes or the Nobel. That question should be asked of Karolinska.
You can follow SUBJECT in Facebook, x and instagramor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Svetlana #Mojsov #chemist #dont #erased #history #Ozempic #woman
