Semeglutide is a novel GLP-1 analogue. Compared with liraglutide, semaglutide has a longer fat chain and increased hydrophobicity, but semaglutide is modified with a short chain of PEG, and its hydrophilicity is greatly enhanced. After PEG modification, it can not only tightly bind albumin, mask the hydrolysis site of DPP-4 enzyme, but also reduce renal excretion, prolong the biological half-life, and achieve the effect of long circulation.

What is Semaglutide?
Semaglutide is the newest GLP-1R agonist and was approved by the FDA as a once-weekly  for the treatment of T2DM in late 2017. The peptide is chemically similar to liraglutide, with the inclusion of two structural modifications (Lau, Bloch, et al., 2015). The first is the replacement of Gly with the non-proteinogenic amino acid 2-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) at position 2. The second is the attachment of octadecanoic diacid to the side chain of Lys-26 through a short polyethylene glycol (PEG) spacer and a γ-glutamic acid linker. The amino acid substitution renders the peptide more resistant to DPP-4 compared to liraglutide, and the presence of the 18-carbon fatty acid moiety results in a high binding affinity for serum albumin, which translates to a half-life of approximately 7 days in humans.
Function
1. • Helps slow food leaving your stomach
• Helps prevent your liver from making too much sugar
• Helps the pancreas produce more insul when your blood sugar levels are high
• Can help control blood glucose
• Can reduce hyperglycemia, especially after meals
• Can reduce fasting insul and fasting glucose
• Can reduce hemoglobin A1c
• Can decrease appetite and caloric intake, while inhibiting weight gain
• Has been shown to lower triglyceride levels and oxidative stress from high LDL
• Has been shown to help induce weight loss in obese patients with higher dosing
• Helps decrease leptin and increase leptin sensitivity
• Can increase the conversion of white fat to brown fat
2. Facilitates Weight Loss
Combats Diabetes