As far as I know GLP-1 is a naturally occurring hormone but it's not something you can just give people directly. Instead you give them artificial things like semaglutide that work on the same receptors.
You can but if I recall based on a book I read [0], you’d need to take a pill something like three or four times a day as your body naturally clears GLP-1 very quickly. The chemical has been known since the 90s, the Ozempic breakthrough was binding/mixing it with some chemical of Gila monster venom which makes your body take much longer to break down the chemical (days instead of hours).
GLP-1 is a class of drugs (or molecules). The first known GLP-1 was pretty much just a synthesized version of a naturally occurring compound from the Gila Monster’s venom.
Semaglutide is like a 2nd generation GLP-1 and there are 3rd generation ones in development right now
Semaglutide and co are "GLP-1 receptor agonists" that behave in a similar way to the naturally occurring hormone GLP-1.
We can't give people GLP-1 itself because it breaks down really fast and you'd have to provide it continuously, so we use ones that effect the body the same way over a long period of time.
