I would put GLP-1 at the top of the list, just because of its enormous worldwide clinical impact,
David Pendlebury stated.
Research into appetite-regulating hormones that laid the groundwork for blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Ozempic is tipped for the Nobel medicine prize, which will be announced on Monday as the 2026 Nobel season kicks off in Stockholm. Nobel watchers say the prize, to be announced at 11:30 am (0930 GMT), could honour research into microbiome studies, the discovery of satiety and hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin, or glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), an intestine-released hormone that signals satiety and is mimicked by drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro.
Contenders And Predictions For The Medicine Prize
A Nobel Prize recognising any of that work is a likelihood,
said David Pendlebury, who heads research analysis at data analytics firm Clarivate, which predicts potential Nobel winners based on citation numbers. Scientists frequently mentioned for the honor include Canadian endocrinologist Daniel Drucker, Danish physician Jens Juul Holst, and Yugoslav-born American chemist Svetlana Mojsov.
Annika Ostman, science reporter at Swedish public broadcaster SR, noted alternative possibilities for the committee, including stem cell research into skin regeneration led by American cell biologist Elaine Fuchs and British colleague Fiona Watt, or a non-invasive imaging technique called optical coherence tomography that uses reflected light to image biological tissues like the retina and optic nerve. Other fields under consideration include adhesion receptors in the immune system identified by US immunologist Timothy Springer, as well as research into breast cancer or DNA sequencing.
The Wider Nobel Season Schedule
Following Monday’s medicine prize announcement, the Nobel prizes will continue with physics on Tuesday and chemistry on Wednesday. The literature laureate will be revealed on Thursday, with literary critic Lina Kalmteg telling AFP that the Swedish Academy could select a woman writer from Latin America, such as Argentine author Samanta Schweblin, alongside other frequently mentioned writers including Jamaica Kincaid, Can Xue, Gerald Murnane, Alexis Wright, Thomas Pynchon, and Cristina Rivera Garza.
The peace prize, the only Nobel awarded in Oslo, is scheduled for Friday. There's always a lot of lobbying, and ultimately perhaps also attempts to exert pressure on the committee,
the secretary of the Nobel committee, Kristian Berg Harpviken, told AFP in an interview.
