What a desert lizard teaches us about patents and the GLP-1 revolution

America’s obesity rate has begun to fall after decades of increases, alongside a sharp rise in the use of GLP-1 weight-loss medicines. The story behind those treatments reaches back to a peptide found in the venom of a desert lizard.

GLP-1 use is expanding

Gallup data cited in the source shows that the share of U.S. adults classified as obese peaked at 39.9% in 2022. This year, it stood at 36.4%, with increasingly widespread GLP-1 medicines identified as a major factor.

About one in nine adults now takes Wegovy, Zepbound or another GLP-1 treatment. That represents roughly a tenfold increase since 2022.

Lower prices are widening access

The treatments have also become less expensive. Weight-loss GLP-1 medicines cost more than $1,000 a month as recently as last year, but patients can now buy them for as little as $149. Leading manufacturers have cut prices as they compete for market share.

The desert lizard connection

In 1990, endocrinologist John Eng isolated a peptide from the venom of the Gila monster, a lizard native to the American Southwest. The compound mimicked GLP-1, a human hormone that prompts insulin release and helps people feel full.

Unlike natural GLP-1, which leaves the body within minutes, the lizard-derived compound remains active for hours. That characteristic helped connect the desert animal, medical research and the patent system to the expanding GLP-1 market.

As usage grows and prices fall, the lizard-inspired discovery remains part of the history behind one of the most rapidly spreading categories of weight-loss treatment.