Research
Hormonal
Albumin binding via fatty acid derivatization extends the half-life of GLP-1 analogs, enabling once-daily (liraglutide) or once-weekly (semaglutide) dosing.
The drugs are designed to bind to albumin in the blood, which keeps them in the body longer. This allows for less frequent dosing (daily or weekly) compared to the natural hormone, which breaks down quickly.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
Reversible binding to albumin was used for the systemic protraction of liraglutide and semaglutide, with optimal fatty acid and linker combinations identified to maximize albumin binding while maintaining GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) potency.
Why this rating
The paper details the chemical design and validation of this mechanism.
Source
The Discovery and Development of Liraglutide and Semaglutide
Lotte Bjerre Knudsen et al. · Frontiers in Endocrinology · 2019
DOI 10.3389/fendo.2019.00155
narrative_reviewCited 894×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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