Duke Researcher Deepens 40-Year GLP-1 Science, Differentiating Current and Pipeline Drugs
Updated
Updated · WRAL News · May 5
Duke Researcher Deepens 40-Year GLP-1 Science, Differentiating Current and Pipeline Drugs
5 articles · Updated · WRAL News · May 5
Jonathan Campbell, a Duke associate professor of medicine, said his lab is sharpening understanding of how GLP-1 drugs work and how available treatments differ from candidates still in development.
That work focuses on GLP-1s and GIPs—two incretin hormones—to explain why the fast-growing drug class is unlikely to be a one-size-fits-all treatment.
Campbell said key unanswered questions still center on safety, efficacy, side-effect reduction and matching the right drug to the right patient.
Roughly 40 years of GLP-1 research underpins today’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs, but Campbell said the field still has substantial room to evolve.
As rebound weight gain plagues GLP-1 users, what new therapies are being developed to make the weight loss last?
With genes now predicting GLP-1 success, will a DNA test soon become the first step in prescribing weight loss drugs?
If up to 40% of weight lost on GLP-1s is muscle, are we simply trading fat for long-term frailty?
The New Era of GLP-1 Therapies: From Endogenous Discovery to Multi-Target Drugs and the Challenge of Equitable Access
Overview
A major breakthrough in 2025 by Duke University researchers revealed that human pancreatic alpha cells can naturally produce much more GLP-1—a hormone crucial for insulin secretion—than previously thought. This challenges old beliefs that alpha cells only make glucagon and opens new possibilities for diabetes treatment by using the body’s own mechanisms. By analyzing tissue from both mice and humans, the team found that boosting natural GLP-1 production could lead to safer, more effective therapies. This discovery sets the stage for future treatments that work with the body’s natural processes, potentially improving outcomes for people with diabetes.