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SERIES: The Drug LandscapeArticle 1 of 4
History of Insulin: How did we get from insulin to Ozempic?

History of insulin explains the Ozempic era better than hype does: identify a useful signal, map its biology, then engineer delivery and stability so the same pathway becomes medically usable.

How does insulin history connect to Ozempic?

Insulin proved that a peptide signal already used by the body could be supplied in a medical context with life-changing effect.

What repeated pattern defines peptide-drug development?

Later peptide drugs followed the same pattern: identify a signal, clarify what it does, and engineer a way to stabilize or deliver it in a usable form.

GLP-1 medicines sit inside that lineage. They are newer tools built on familiar design logic, not a disconnected breakthrough.

Why does this history matter for current decisions?

It keeps the category frame accurate. Individual products differ, but the scientific method behind them stays consistent across generations.

One More Thing

Frederick Banting sold the insulin patent to the University of Toronto for one dollar. He said: "Insulin does not belong to me. It belongs to the world."

By October 1923, manufacturers shipped commercial insulin globally. That one-dollar patent has since generated hundreds of billions in pharmaceutical revenue across the industry. Every GLP-1 drug on the market today traces its scientific lineage to that decision. Banting did not ask what insulin was worth. He asked who it belonged to. His answer shaped a century of medicine.

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Are peptide drugs FDA approved?
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The GLP-1 Highway

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Are peptide drugs FDA approved?

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The Difference Between Brand, Compound, and Source

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Product context

GLP-3 product page

Move from mechanism and evidence to the GLP-3 product context.

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References4 sources
  1. Wang, L., et al. · 2022
    Therapeutic peptides: current applications and future directions.
    Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 7
  2. Holst, J.J. · 2007
    The physiology of glucagon-like peptide 1.
    Physiological Reviews, 87(4)
  3. Knudsen, L.B., & Lau, J. · 2019
    The Discovery and Development of Liraglutide and Semaglutide.
    Frontiers in Endocrinology, 10
  4. Jastreboff, A.M., et al. · 2023
    Triple-Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide - A Phase 2 Trial.
    New England Journal of Medicine, 389(6)