[derbOac]

Reading the wikipedia page on semaglutide, I was a little confused why one wouldn't just use the peptide it's an analogue of, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). It states the only "differences are two amino acid substitutions at positions 8 and 34, where alanine and lysine are replaced by 2-aminoisobutyric acid and arginine respectively."

The article explains that the substitutions increase the half-life of the substance in the body, so I understand that as an advantage of the drug over the naturally occuring peptide. This would be important with an injection. But the skeptic in me wonders if, the drug now is available in an oral form, if the real reason for pushing the drug over GLP-1 is because the drug can be patented and GLP-1 cannot.