Pioneers of Obesity Drugs Win Prestigious Lasker Award

Joel Habener, Svetlana Mojsov, and Lotte Bjerre Knudsen honored for groundbreaking GLP-1 research with potential Nobel Prize speculation.

Joel Habener, Svetlana Mojsov, and Lotte Bjerre Knudsen have been awarded the 2024 Lasker Award for their development of GLP-1-based anti-obesity drugs.
The trio's research focused on glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar and appetite.
Initially aimed at treating diabetes, GLP-1-based drugs have also shown effectiveness in treating obesity, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, and kidney disease.
The Lasker Award is often seen as a precursor to the Nobel Prize, raising speculation that these scientists might soon receive that honor.
Other notable Lasker Award recipients this year include Zhijian ‘James’ Chen for DNA immune response research and Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim for HIV prevention efforts.