IT IS KNOWN in China as “Musk’s miracle medicine”. In 2022 the boss of Tesla and new owner of Twitter, now X, gave credit for his slimmer figure to Wegovy, a drug manufactured by Novo Nordisk, a Danish firm. News about the drug quickly went viral on Chinese social media, where Mr Musk is wildly popular. The hype was, unusually, justified. Wegovy’s active ingredient, semaglutide, belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. GLP-1s help control blood sugar and promise to bring many other benefits as well.
The Economist
