GLP‑1 news from 2017
13 dated, sourced GLP-1 developments from 2017: approvals, trial results, prices, lawsuits, compounding and culture.
- Research and trials
Trial finds weekly semaglutide lowers blood sugar and weight more than exenatide ER
In a 56-week phase 3 trial of 813 adults with type 2 diabetes, once-weekly semaglutide 1.0 mg cut HbA1c by 1.5 percentage points versus 0.9 points for once-weekly exenatide extended release 2.0 mg. Average weight fell 5.6 kg with semaglutide and 1.9 kg with exenatide ER. Gastrointestinal side effects were more common with semaglutide, while injection-site reactions were far more common with exenatide ER.
- Regulation
FDA approves Ozempic, the first semaglutide product, for type 2 diabetes
On December 5, 2017, the FDA approved Ozempic (semaglutide) injection to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, alongside diet and exercise. It was the first approved product containing semaglutide and carried a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors seen in rodents.
- Safety
Semaglutide's thyroid tumor warning has stayed on the label since Ozempic's 2017 approval
The FDA cleared Ozempic (semaglutide) for type 2 diabetes on December 5, 2017 with a boxed warning on thyroid C-cell tumors and a contraindication covering patients with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2. The DailyMed version of the label updated June 1, 2026 still carries both.
- Business
FDA withdraws approval of 39 new drug applications from Teva, Pfizer and others
The FDA published a notice on August 4, 2025 withdrawing approval of 39 new drug applications held by multiple companies, including Teva and Pfizer, after the sponsors told the agency the products are no longer marketed. The withdrawals took effect September 3, 2025, and the agency issued a correction to the notice on October 3, 2025.
- Regulation
FDA advisory panel votes 16-0 to recommend semaglutide for type 2 diabetes
An FDA advisory committee voted 16-0 on October 18, 2017, in favor of approving once-weekly semaglutide for type 2 diabetes. The FDA then approved the drug on December 5, 2017, under the brand name Ozempic. Semaglutide has since been approved under several other brand names and dosage forms, including Rybelsus and Wegovy.
- Science
Semaglutide slowed stomach emptying in the first hour after a meal, 2017 report found
Researchers led by Hjerpsted reported in October 2017 that semaglutide slowed stomach emptying during the first hour after a meal in people with obesity, with an acetaminophen AUC ratio of 0.73 compared with placebo. Overall stomach emptying was similar between the two groups. The finding still underpins how the semaglutide label describes the drug's effect on the stomach.
- Business
Exenatide fails to beat placebo on major cardiovascular events in 14,752-patient EXSCEL trial
EXSCEL randomly assigned 14,752 adults with type 2 diabetes to once-weekly extended-release exenatide or placebo and found a hazard ratio of 0.91 for the primary composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack or nonfatal stroke, with P=0.06 for superiority. The drug met the trial's noninferiority test for safety but did not significantly reduce those events compared with placebo. Results were published in 2017.
- Science
First detailed structure of the GLP-1 receptor, the target of semaglutide, is published
In 2017, researchers published the first near-atomic-resolution structure of the activated GLP-1 receptor, captured with a GLP-1 peptide bound and the G protein Gs attached. The cryo-electron microscopy map reached a nominal resolution of 4.1 angstroms overall and 3.9 angstroms in its most stable region. It showed the peptide clasped between the receptor's N-terminal domain and its transmembrane core, and a sharp kink in transmembrane helix 6 that opens room for the Gs α5-helix.
- Research and trials
Weekly semaglutide beat insulin glargine on A1c and weight in SUSTAIN 4
In the phase 3 SUSTAIN 4 trial, once-weekly semaglutide lowered A1c by 1.21% at the 0.5 mg dose and 1.64% at 1.0 mg over 30 weeks, compared with 0.83% for once-daily insulin glargine. Participants on the two semaglutide doses lost 3.47 kg and 5.17 kg, while those on insulin glargine gained 1.15 kg. Severe or blood glucose-confirmed low blood sugar occurred in 4% and 6% of the semaglutide groups versus 11% on insulin glargine.
- Business
Three-year SCALE trial finds liraglutide 3.0 mg reduced diabetes diagnoses in adults with prediabetes
In the SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes trial, 2% of adults taking liraglutide 3.0 mg were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by week 160, compared with 6% of those on placebo, a hazard ratio of 0.21. The liraglutide group lost an average of 6.1% of body weight versus 1.9% with placebo. Half of the 2,254 participants had left the study before week 160, and people who withdrew were not followed afterward.
- Research and trials
Weekly semaglutide lowered HbA1c and weight in first phase 3 trial
In the SUSTAIN 1 trial, once-weekly injectable semaglutide reduced HbA1c by 1.45 percentage points at the 0.5 mg dose and 1.55 points at the 1.0 mg dose over 30 weeks, compared with 0.02 points on placebo. Body weight fell by an average of 3.73 kg and 4.53 kg, respectively, versus 0.98 kg on placebo. Nausea was the most common side effect and the main reason people stopped treatment.
- Business
Eli Lilly named David Ricks CEO in 2017, the year its first tirzepatide data arrived
Eli Lilly put David Ricks in the chair and chief executive roles in 2017, when the company was worth $92.99 billion. Lilly's first data on tirzepatide in people also arrived that year, the molecule now sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound. On Nov. 21, 2025, it briefly became the first drugmaker worth $1 trillion, and CompaniesMarketCap listed it at $1.015 trillion as of September 2026.
- Business
Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen became Novo Nordisk CEO in 2017 as sales were flat
Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen became chief executive officer of Novo Nordisk in 2017, taking over a company whose net sales were essentially unchanged from the previous year at DKK 111.7 billion, with operating profit of DKK 49.0 billion. Ozempic, the once-weekly semaglutide injection, was approved in the United States the same year.