‘Skinny jabs’ may be longevity drugs, but healthy people shouldn’t be taking them
Leading GLP-1 researcher says while drugs like semaglutide do appear to have longevity benefits, they won’t make healthy people healthier.
Semaglutide, the so called “skinny jab”, marketed around the world as Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus, is rarely out of the news these days. Gossip columns are awash with claims of celebrities using the drug to achieve their weight-loss goals, alongside warnings around side-effects, the surge in black market knockoffs, and the drug’s potentially detrimental effects on things like muscle mass and bone density.

Having secured regulatory approvals all over the world, semaglutide’s maker, Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk, now valued at more than $500 billion, has become the most valuable company in European Union, prompting speculation in longevity circles about what a successful aging drug could mean for the pharma industry.

From a clinical perspective, the results have been impressive, and not just in promoting weight loss and preventing diabetes. Semaglutide has also demonstrated efficacy in reducing cardiovascular complications in human studies, as well as showing neuroprotective effects in mouse studies, leading to suggestions that it could be considered a “longevity drug.”

Longevity.Technology: Semaglutide is part of a class of drugs that work by activating the GLP-1 hormone receptor, mimicking certain biological actions that occur in the gut after eating, helping combat our urge to eat. We spoke exclusively to one of the world’s leading GLP-1 researchers, University of Copenhagen professor Jens Juul Holst, to find out what the experts think about the longevity potential of the skinny jab.

‘Skinny jabs’ may be longevity drugs, but healthy people shouldn’t be taking them