Has AI discovered the following Ozempic? Researchers in Spain race to patent two plant extracts they think may very well be the following big thing for weight reduction

Artificial intelligence has uncovered two plants that provide the identical weight reduction results as Ozempic, in keeping with a brand new study.

Researchers on the Catholic University of Murcia in Spain reported that the plants contain similar agonists – a substance mimicking a hormone response – to those in Ozempic.

AI software analyzed 1000’s of natural compounds that would offer the identical weight reduction components and eventually narrowed down two plant extracts.

Researchers set out to seek out a plant alternative as a consequence of many individuals experiencing unwanted effects and regaining weight once of the prescription drug.

The team also said that not only would the plants be easier on the body, but they’d even be more accessible and value effective – Ozempic costs about $936 a month.

They will not be naming the plant extracts – which for now have been named Compound A and Compound B – until they patent them for a brand new weight reduction drug.

Weight loss drugs surged last 12 months, with Ozempic taking the lead because the most-used option

Ozempic was released in 2017 to treat individuals with diabetes, but was late found to assist people reduce weight by suppressing their appetite.

Since been proclaimed as a ‘miracle drug,’ use of it has by 300 percent in lower than three years, with prescriptions hitting nine million within the US as of September 2023.

Morgan Stanley analysts have projected that over the following 10 years, 24 million people – seven percent of the US population – will likely be taking Ozempic or Wegovy.

But users have reported spats of nausea and vomiting, along mental health issues like anxiety and irritability when taking the weekly injections.

To address these issues, scientists desired to ‘concentrate on plant extracts and other natural compounds because they could have fewer side-effects’ and options that  may very well be taken orally slightly than an injection.

But the choice needed to still activate the GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor, which is how Ozempic triggers the body’s weight reduction response.

Ozempic can cost as much as $935 per thirty days before medical insurance, while the associated fee overseas hovers around $100 on average

‘Drugs that are not peptides could have fewer unwanted effects and be easier to manage, meaning they may very well be given as pills slightly than injections,’ said Elena Murcia, a co-author of the study and a member of the Structural Bioinformatics and High-Performance Computing Research Group (BIO-HPC).

The team used an AI-powered software to sift through greater than 10,000 compounds to discover people who certain to the GLP-1 receptor.

Next, other AI-based methods investigated how closely these bonds resembled people who occur between the GLP-1 hormone and its receptor.

The team identified 100 from the group for a visible evaluation, which produced a set of 65 compounds that were put through a mathematical graph to pinpoint those with the highest potential as GLP1-R agonists.

And that’s when the team landed on Compound A and Compound B.

The study noted that the researchers will not be revealing the name of the plants until they’ve patented them for a brand new weight reduction drug.

The compounds come from quite common plants, in keeping with the report, which said the ‘extracts of which have been related to useful effects on the human metabolism previously.’

‘Computer-based studies corresponding to ours have key benefits, corresponding to reductions in costs and time, rapid evaluation of enormous data sets, flexibility in experimental design, and the power to discover and mitigate any ethical and safety risks before conducting experiments within the laboratory,’ said Murcia.

‘These simulations also allow us to benefit from AI resources to research complex problems and so provide a invaluable initial perspective within the search for brand new drugs.’