Turn on cookies to sign in
Signing in saves your progress to your Curie account. We can only do that with cookies on — turn them on to continue.
Could a tiny 12-amino-acid molecule be the next big thing in obesity treatment? Stanford researchers used AI to discover BRP, a naturally occurring peptide that cut food intake by up to 50% in animals — with no signs of the nausea, constipation, or muscle loss linked to Ozempic. Human trials are on the horizon.
Stanford Medicine scientists have identified a naturally occurring molecule called BRP that could become the basis for a new class of weight-loss drugs. Discovered with the help of an AI algorithm called Peptide Predictor — which scanned roughly 20,000 human genes — BRP is a 12-amino-acid peptide that appears to suppress appetite and promote fat loss similarly to semaglutide (Ozempic), but through a different biological pathway.
Unlike semaglutide, which activates GLP-1 receptors spread across the gut, pancreas, and brain, BRP appears to act specifically in the hypothalamus — the brain region that governs hunger and metabolism. This more targeted approach may explain why animal experiments showed strong appetite suppression without the digestive side effects or significant muscle loss commonly associated with GLP-1 drugs. The findings, published in Nature, have already prompted the researchers to lay the groundwork for human clinical trials, with senior author Dr. Katrin Svensson co-founding Merrifield Therapeutics to advance BRP's development.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: With obesity affecting hundreds of millions globally, the race for better treatments is fierce. BRP's targeted brain action and cleaner side-effect profile in animals could address one of the biggest barriers to GLP-1 drug adherence — tolerability. If human trials confirm these results, BRP could represent a meaningful leap forward in obesity medicine.
