Lotte Knudsen, who pushed Novo Nordisk into the Ozempic era, wins STAT Innovation award
Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, who persuaded Novo Nordisk to stick with GLP-1 research and paved the way for Ozempic, is the recipient of STAT’s 2023 Biomedical Innovation Award.
Back in the 1990s, scientist Lotte Bjerre Knudsen was tasked with revitalizing a floundering program at Novo Nordisk that had been trying to harness the newly-discovered GLP-1 hormone into viable diabetes drug candidates.
At the time, many of Knudsen’s bosses had already lost hope for the program. Novo’s focus, after all, was on insulin, and the naturally occurring GLP-1 hormone had too short a half-life to use as a drug.
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