Canadian scientist wins Breakthrough Prize for discovery of hormone used in Ozempic, Mounjaro – CBC

Endocrinologist Dr. Daniel Drucker shares $3 million US prize with colleagues

Apr 07, 2025

A Canadian researcher has won a 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discovering the GLP-1 hormone used in diabetes and obesity medications — including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro — that have changed the lives of millions of people around the world.

Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist and a clinician-scientist at the University of Toronto and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Sinai Health, shares the $3 million US prize with four colleagues from the United States and Denmark.

They were all involved in the development of the now-famous drugs manufactured by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Drucker and three co-winners made discoveries about glucagon-like peptide-1 in their labs. The other recipient of the award, Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, who works for Novo Nordisk, led the way in developing it into medications.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/breakthrough-prize-glp-1-daniel-drucker-1.7504083