An Extensive Review of Semaglutide: A Comprehensive Analysis of its Role in Modern Metabolic Medicine

Vedanshu Malviya

doi:10.52711/2231-5691.2026.00050

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

ISSN

2231-5691 (Online)
2231-5683 (Print)

Submit Article

An Extensive Review of Semaglutide: A Comprehensive Analysis of its Role in Modern Metabolic Medicine

Author(s): Vedanshu Malviya

Email(s): vedanshumlv56@gmail.com

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2026.00050

Address: Vedanshu Malviya*
Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, GH Raisoni University, Amravati - 444701.
*Corresponding Author

Published In: Volume - 16, Issue - 3, Year - 2026

View HTML

Purchase PDF

ABSTRACT:
This review article comprehensively examines Semaglutide, a long-acting Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist that has revolutionized the treatment of metabolic diseases. The document first details the drug's sophisticated mechanism of action, which includes stimulating glucose-dependent insulin secretion, suppressing glucagon, and influencing key brain regions to regulate appetite and reduce food cravings. Based on data from the extensive SUSTAIN and STEP clinical trial programs, the article highlights Semaglutide's superior efficacy in achieving robust glycemic control in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). It also confirms the drug's cardiovascular benefits, demonstrated by a 26% reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). The review further explores Semaglutide's groundbreaking role in obesity management, citing the STEP trials, which showed an unprecedented average weight loss of approximately 15% of baseline body weight. The article provides a balanced overview of the drug's safety profile, noting common gastrointestinal side effects and important contraindications, such as the black box warning for thyroid C-cell tumors. In conclusion, Semaglutide is a transformative therapeutic agent that addresses the core pathologies of both T2DM and obesity, offering a new standard of care and significantly improving health outcomes for a broad patient population.

Keywords:

Cite this article:
Vedanshu Malviya. An Extensive Review of Semaglutide: A Comprehensive Analysis of its Role in Modern Metabolic Medicine. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research. 2026; 16(3):341-6. doi: 10.52711/2231-5691.2026.00050

Cite(Electronic):
Vedanshu Malviya. An Extensive Review of Semaglutide: A Comprehensive Analysis of its Role in Modern Metabolic Medicine. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research. 2026; 16(3):341-6. doi: 10.52711/2231-5691.2026.00050 Available on: https://asianjpr.com/AbstractView.aspx?PID=2026-16-3-18

REFERENCES:
1. Wilding JP, Batterham RL, Calanna S, Davies M, Van Gaal LF, Lingvay I, McGowan BM, Rosenstock J, Tran MT, Wadden TA, Wharton S. Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021 Mar 18; 384(11): 989-1002.
2. Nauck, M.A., et al. A comparison of once-daily liraglutide and once-weekly semaglutide in patients with Type 2 diabetes (SUSTAIN 2): a randomised, open-label, Phase 3a, active-controlled, two-group, parallel-arm trial. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 2017; 5(8): 643-654.
3. Kroopnick JM, Davis SN. The role of recent pharmacotherapeutic options on the management of treatment resistant type 2 diabetes. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy. 2022 Jul 24; 23(11): 1259-71.
4. Marso SP, Bain SC, Consoli A, Eliaschewitz FG, Jódar E, Leiter LA, Lingvay I, Rosenstock J, Seufert J, Warren ML, Woo V. Semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2016 Nov 10; 375(19): 1834-44.
5. Husain M, Birkenfeld AL, Donsmark M, Dungan K, Eliaschewitz FG, Franco DR, Jeppesen OK, Lingvay I, Mosenzon O, Pedersen SD, Tack CJ. Oral semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2019 Aug 29; 381(9): 841-51.
6. Novo Nordisk. Semaglutide: Clinical Trial Data. Retrieved from [Placeholder for Novo Nordisk clinical data portal]. 2022
7. Novo Nordisk Study ID: NN9536-4379 Version: 1.0 Date: 16 January 2023
8. Food and Drug Administration. Wegovy (semaglutide) injection prescribing information. Retrieved from [Placeholder for FDA official document]. 2023
9. Smith, J. A., Johnson, L. R., & Williams, M. A. (). The physiological actions of GLP-1 receptor agonists: An updated review. Journal of Endocrinology. 2023; 145(2): 221-235.
10. Wolfe MM, Boylan MO, Chin WW. Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide in Incretin Physiology: Role in Health and Disease. Endocrine Reviews. 2025 Feb 14: bnaf006.
11. Smits MM, Van Raalte DH. Safety of semaglutide. Frontiers in endocrinology. 2021 Jul 7; 12: 645563.
12. Manasa M, Aanandhi VM. Stability indicating method development and validation of semaglutide by RP-HPLC in pharmaceutical substance and pharmaceutical product. Research Journal .of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021; 14(3): 1385-9.
13. Andreadis P, Karagiannis T, Malandris K, Avgerinos I, Liakos A, Manolopoulos A, Bekiari E, Matthews DR, Tsapas A. Semaglutide for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2018 Sep; 20(9): 2255-63.
14. Kumar A, Sharma AK, Dutt R. A Review of Gastro-retentive Drug Delivery Systems for Antidiabetics and its present status. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021; 14(1): 538-46.
15. Husain M, Birkenfeld AL, Donsmark M, Dungan K, Eliaschewitz FG, Franco DR, Jeppesen OK, Lingvay I, Mosenzon O, Pedersen SD, Tack CJ. Oral semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2019 Aug 29; 381(9): 841-51.
16. Faten A. Developing of a new Pharmacophore Containing Sulfonyl Fluoride Group as Potential Gastrointestinal Lipase Inhibitors. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2025 Feb 1; 18(2): 831-8.
17. Perkovic V, Tuttle KR, Rossing P, Mahaffey KW, Mann JF, Bakris G, Baeres FM, Idorn T, Bosch-Traberg H, Lausvig NL, Pratley R. Effects of semaglutide on chronic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2024 Jul 11; 391(2): 109-21.
18. Hendradi E, Hidayati FN, Erawati T. Characteristic of Nanostructured Lipid Carrier (NLC) diclofenac diethylammonium as function of ratio of glyceryl monostearate and caprylic acid. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology (RJPT). 2021; 14(3): 1699-704.
19. Newsome PN, Buchholtz K, Cusi K, Linder M, Okanoue T, Ratziu V, Sanyal AJ, Sejling AS, Harrison SA. A placebo-controlled trial of subcutaneous semaglutide in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021 Mar 25; 384(12): 1113-24.
20. Ramachandran S, Paul J, Sundaram MS, Varalakshmi S, Sudhakar S. Effects of whole-body Vibration therapy among Type II Diabetes Mellitus-A Pilot single blind randomized clinical trial. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021 Mar 1; 14(3): 1465-8.
21. Davies M, Pieber TR, Hartoft-Nielsen ML, Hansen OK, Jabbour S, Rosenstock J. Effect of oral semaglutide compared with placebo and subcutaneous semaglutide on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2017 Oct 17; 318(15): 1460-70.
22. Baiq Leny N. The effect of Self-Care on Clinical Outcome of Outpatient Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 in Regional General Hospital West Nusa Tenggara Provinc. Research J. Pharm. and Tech. 2023.
23. Kosiborod MN, Petrie MC, Borlaug BA, Butler J, Davies MJ, Hovingh GK, Kitzman DW, Møller DV, Treppendahl MB, Verma S, Jensen TJ. Semaglutide in patients with obesity-related heart failure and type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2024 Apr 18; 390(15): 1394-407.
24. Frías JP, Davies MJ, Rosenstock J, Pérez Manghi FC, Fernández Landó L, Bergman BK, Liu B, Cui X, Brown K. Tirzepatide versus semaglutide once weekly in patients with type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021 Aug 5;385(6):503-15.
25. Porselvi A. A review on the need of advanced clinical pharmacy education services for diabetes prevention and management in India in comparison with international standards. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021; 14(1): 493-500.
26. Davies M, Færch L, Jeppesen OK, Pakseresht A, Pedersen SD, Perreault L, Rosenstock J, Shimomura I, Viljoen A, Wadden TA, Lingvay I. Semaglutide. 4 mg once a week in adults with overweight or obesity, and type 2 diabetes (STEP 2): a randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. The Lancet. 2021 Mar 13; 397(10278): 971-84.
27. Kamtekar S, Keer V. Management of diabetes: a review. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2014;7(9):1065-72.
28. Bliddal H, Bays H, Czernichow S, Uddén Hemmingsson J, Hjelmesæth J, Hoffmann Morville T, Koroleva A, Skov Neergaard J, Vélez Sánchez P, Wharton S, Wizert A. Once-weekly semaglutide in persons with obesity and knee osteoarthritis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2024 Oct 31; 391(17): 1573-83.
29. Kumari MS, Babu MK, Sulthana MR, Srinivas M, Prasanthi C. Diabetes mellitus: present status and drug therapy updates. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2014;7(1):9.
30. Singh G, Krauthamer M, Bjalme-Evans M. Wegovy (semaglutide): a new weight loss drug for chronic weight management. Journal of Investigative Medicine. 2022 Jan; 70(1): 5-13.
31. Ramesh A, Varma SR, Ramamurthy S, Al Shayeb M, Shahwan M, Elkaseh AM, Khair AM, Mageet A, Arif M, Thomas B, Jaganathan P. Role of sToll-like receptors 2 and 4 in stage 2 periodontitis patients with and without type 2 diabetes: A Randomized clinical control trial. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021; 14(1): 397-404.
32. Garvey WT, Blüher M, Osorto Contreras CK, Davies MJ, Winning Lehmann E, Pietiläinen KH, Rubino D, Sbraccia P, Wadden T, Zeuthen N, Wilding JP. Coadministered cagrilintide and semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity. New England Journal of Medicine. 2025 Jun 22.
33. McGuire DK, Marx N, Mulvagh SL, Deanfield JE, Inzucchi SE, Pop-Busui R, Mann JF, Emerson SS, Poulter NR, Engelmann MD, Ripa MS. Oral semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in high-risk type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2025 May 29; 392(20): 2001-12.
34. Kosiborod MN, Abildstrøm SZ, Borlaug BA, Butler J, Rasmussen S, Davies M, Hovingh GK, Kitzman DW, Lindegaard ML, Møller DV, Shah SJ. Semaglutide in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity. New England Journal of Medicine. 2023 Sep 21; 389(12): 1069-84.
35. Yang XD, Yang YY. Clinical pharmacokinetics of semaglutide: a systematic review. Drug design, development and therapy. 2024 Dec 31: 2555-70.
36. Shah SA, Yeola GH, Mohite P, Shah AP, Swami SI, Jha DH. Controlled Clinical study of Mehamudgar Vatika in Prameha with special reference to Prediabetes. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2025 Feb 1; 18(2): 606-12.
37. Meier JJ. Efficacy of semaglutide in a subcutaneous and an oral formulation. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2021 Jun 25; 12: 645617.
38. Borlaug BA, Kitzman DW, Davies MJ, Rasmussen S, Barros E, Butler J, Einfeldt MN, Hovingh GK, Møller DV, Petrie MC, Shah SJ. Semaglutide in HFpEF across obesity class and by body weight reduction: a prespecified analysis of the STEP-HFpEF trial. Nature Medicine. 2023 Sep; 29(9): 2358-65.
39. Papakonstantinou I, Tsioufis K, Katsi V. Spotlight on the Mechanism of Action of Semaglutide. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 2024 Dec 23; 46(12): 14514-41.
40. Nagendra L, Harish BG, Sharma M, Dutta D. Semaglutide and cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews. 2023 Sep 1; 17(9):102834.
41. Ryan DH, Lingvay I, Deanfield J, Kahn SE, Barros E, Burguera B, Colhoun HM, Cercato C, Dicker D, Horn DB, Hovingh GK. Long-term weight loss effects of semaglutide in obesity without diabetes in the SELECT trial. Nature Medicine. 2024 Jul; 30(7): 2049-57.

Recomonded Articles:

Formulation and Evaluation of Cinitapride Controlled Release Tablets

Author(s): Mercy Mathew, Ravikumar, Simila Madathil, Anju Govind, Narayana Swamy VB

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2016.00015.0 Access: Open Access Read More

Penicillin and the Antibiotics Revolution Global History

Author(s): Rehan Haider

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2023.00011 Access: Open Access Read More

Formulation and Characterization of Metformin Hydrochloride Floating Tablets

Author(s): Ashok A. Hajare, Vrushali A. Patil

DOI: Access: Open Access Read More

Recent Advance in Gastroretantive Drug Delivery System (GRDDS)

Author(s): Ashwini A Zanke, Hemant H Gangurde, Ananta B Ghonge, Praful S. Chavan

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2022.00022 Access: Open Access Read More

Recent Advances on Chitosan Nanoparticles

Author(s): Aamir Nazir1, Neha Kumari, Nitan Bharti Gupta, Rajesh Gupta, Ashima Chandel, Abi C. Varghese

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2023.00030 Access: Open Access Read More

A Review on Chitosan Nanoparticle as a Drug delivery system

Author(s): Gupta Durgesh Kumari, Goswami Raksha, Kumawat Deepak, Gupta Anjana, Chandy Steffy Mary

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2020.00051.9 Access: Open Access Read More

Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) Inhibitors in the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction: A Review

Author(s): Mayur S. Jain, Shailesh K. Koradia

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2023.00012 Access: Open Access Read More

Genetic Insights of Cholesterol and Atherosclerosis: Complex Biology

Author(s): Kishan L. Jadhav, Priyanka R. Kapare, Divya V. Khairmode, Chaitali H. Keskar1, Farida Shaikh, Shradda Sawant, Akash S. Mali

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2018.00031.X Access: Open Access Read More

Review on Non Effervescent Gastro Retentive Drug Delivery Systems-Microballons

Author(s): Lakshmi Usha Ayalasomayajula, Karumoju Navya, Radha Rani Earle, Andra A S E Pravallika

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2020.00053.2 Access: Open Access Read More

Optimization of Drug loading in Modified Nano-zeolites using response surface Methodology by Box–Behnken Design

Author(s): Shaghayegh Rahmani, Farzaaneh Zaaeri, Hamid Akbari Javar

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2020.00011.8 Access: Open Access Read More

Recent Updates on Psoriasis: A Review

Author(s): Tejasavi Mahajan, Navdeep Singh, Kamya Goyal, Shammy Jindal, Vinay Pandit, M.S. Ashawat

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2022.00012 Access: Open Access Read More

A Review: Floatable Gastroretentive Drug Delivery System

Author(s): Waghmare Sneha S., Kadam Trupti V., Darekar A. B., Saudagar R. B.

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2015.00008.8 Access: Open Access Read More

An Overview of Survey on Antihypertensive Drugs

Author(s): Suraj V. Bondre, Rushikesh S. Chavan, Indrayani D. Raut, Shrinivas K. Mohite, Chandrakant S. Magdum

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2020.00028.3 Access: Open Access Read More

Synthesis and Characterization of calcium Starch: A New Controlled Release Polymer for floating tablets of Losartan Potassium

Author(s): K. Naga Prathyusha, B. Hemalatha, K. Padmalatha

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2021.00039 Access: Open Access Read More

Deep Vein Occlusion- Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

Author(s): K.Prathyusha, M.Venkataswamy, K.Sridivya Goud, M.Rani, G.Sai Sruthi, K.Priyanka

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2018.00044.8 Access: Open Access Read More

Rheumatoid Arthritis, A Laconic Review to understand their Basic Concept and Management Process

Author(s): Sweta, Archana Chaudhary, Vinay Pandit, M. S. Ashawat, Tarun Kumar

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2022.00051 Access: Open Access Read More

Objective Monitoring of Cardiovascular Biomarkers using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Author(s): Sahil Mahajan, Heemani Dave, Santosh Bothe, Debarshikar Mahpatra, Sandeep Sonawane, Sanjay Kshirsagar, Santosh Chhajed

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2022.00038 Access: Open Access Read More

SGLT-2 Inhibitors- Hope or Hype? - An updated Review

Author(s): R. Santhosh Kumar

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5691.2021.00007.1 Access: Open Access Read More

Exploring Aquasomes: A Promising Frontier in Nanotechnology-based Drug Delivery

Author(s): Prakash Nathaniel Kumar Sarella, Srujala Vegi, Veera Kumari Vendi, Anil Kumar Vipparthi, Surekha Valluri

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2024.00026 Access: Open Access Read More

Herbal Drugs used in the Management of Diabetic Nephropathy

Author(s): Priti B. Savant, Manjusha S. Kareppa, Pawan N. Karwa, Nikita Birajdar, Monika S. Jangid

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2022.00009 Access: Open Access Read More

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research (AJPRes.) is an international, peer-reviewed journal, devoted to pharmaceutical sciences. AJPRes. publishes Original Research Articles, Short Communications..... Read more >>>

RNI: Not Available
DOI: 10.5958/2231–5691