Russian scientists create new affordable medicine for obesity and diabetes

Scientists at Sirius University of Science and Technology have developed a group of substances that can help patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity. The compounds act on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP—1), a molecule that can control blood sugar levels and reduce appetite.

Not at the proper level: every fifth person may be at risk of developing diabetes

An increase in the detection of an increased amount of glucose indicates the prevalence of carbohydrate metabolism disorders, experts say.

First, scientists took as a basis one of the foreign analogues — the drug danuglipron. In human clinical trials, it showed severe side effects, and the studies stopped. However, Sirius specialists have found a number of new compounds with a structure similar to danuglipron, from which they plan to create a completely new type of drugs. Unlike foreign analogues, which are available only in injectable form, new drugs can be produced in tablets.

"We are already working on finding an effective candidate within the framework of the proposed chemotype of compounds with high activity combined with low toxicity," Roman Ivanov, director of the Scientific Center for Translational Medicine at Sirius University, told Izvestia.

If successful, this will allow scientists to move on to preclinical and clinical trials of the new drug. So far, promising compounds have been tested on cell cultures.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

At the fat level: scientists have found available "controllers" of appetite and blood sugar