The story of Svetlana Mojsov, and the controversy around revolutionary diabetic drugs | Explained Premium

Serbian chemist Svetlana Mojsov is fighting to have her work recognised for discovering a revolutionary diabetic drug. Who is she? What was her contribution to discovering GLP-1? 

The story so far: In October, biochemist Katalin Karikó became only the 23rd woman in Nobel’s 122-year-long history to have won the prestigious award in science and medicine. Her three-decade-long investigation into mrRNA vaccines ‘almost didn’t happen’: she struggled with funding, her institute demoted her and rejection letters from publications piled on. Dr. Kariko’s historic recognition reminded the world that scientific research is driven by “prestige, power and privilege”, she writes in her memoir.

Miles away from the spotlight, a familiar story fought for attention, concerning a different woman and a different disease. Last month, three corrections in leading publications (Nature,The New York Times and Cell) admitted to omitting a key name in the discovery of revolutionary drugs to treat diabetes and obesity: Svetlana Mojsov. Dr. Mojsov in the 1970s helped discover GLP-1, a hormone that has transformed the treatment of these non-communicable diseases today. However, recognition, patents and awards lagged in crediting her for her work. Two news stories traced how Dr. Mojsov’s pioneering contributions were systemically erased from scientific literature, denying her a place in history.

Born in Yugoslavia, Dr. Mojsov finished her undergraduate degree in chemistry in Belgrade and in 1972, moved to New York’s Rockefeller University, an article in Science states. She worked with biochemist Bruce Merrifield, who earned a Nobel Prize for his work on peptides (the ‘building blocks of protein’). There, she trained her attention on synthesising glucagon, an alpha-helix-shaped hormone released by the pancreas that raises blood glucose levels. Scientific research was circling around the premise that suppressing glucagon could help treat Type 2 diabetes. The two doctors published a paper in 1981 documenting their “rapid and efficient” synethsis of glucagon.

She moved to the Massachusetts General Hospital (MHG) where a small group of scientists led by endocrinologist Joel Habener were already working on unravelling the mysteries of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). Dr. Habener’s team studied anglerfish to clone GLP-1, hoping to link the hormone with the release of insulin, but was unable to locate GLP-1’s presence in the human body. “Then, I went to prove it,” Dr. Mosjov told Science. Even before she officially allied with Dr. Habener’s team, she had already established a method to detect GLP-1’s presence and agreed to work with Dr. Habener’s lab to test this further. A notable paper published in 1986 documents their discovery, mapping out the exact amino acid stretch of GLP-1 which could trigger insulin release in the pancreas — a paper that names Dr. Mosjov as the primary researcher followed by Gordon C. Weiner and Dr. Habener. Subsequent research into this field has built on this finding, inching towards drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy that emulate the action of GLP-1 which can in turn help treat obesity and diabetes.

“She was involved in the beginning, pioneering work, deciphering what the real active GLP-1 peptide is,” Dr. Habener told Science. Further research would use GLP-1’s insulin secretion powers and ability to suppress appetite to develop drugs called GLP-1 agonists, what we know as Ozempic and Wegovy. The estimated market size for GLP-1 receptor agonists in 2022 stood at $22.4 billion.

By 1992, she had returned to Rockefeller, but managing work with two children meant moving out of the spotlight. She continued researching GLP-1 properties in fish, and also “offered lab members help with peptide biology, finding that mentoring and collaborating with junior women scientists brought particular fulfilment,” the article noted. 

It was only in 1996 that, upon enquiring about patenting her research, Dr. Mojsov found that GLP-1 derivates were patented with Dr. Habener as the sole creator. “I just thought it was all in the papers, that it was obvious,” she told Stat News when asked why she didn’t seek recognition earlier.