Formulation Strategies for Oral and Long-Acting GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: Recent Advances and Translational Challenges

  • Unique Paper ID: 209547
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue: 5
  • PageNo: 2674-2683
  • Abstract:
  • Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have moved from a twice-daily diabetes injection to the most commercially and clinically significant drug class in metabolic medicine. Much of this shift was driven by pharmaceutics rather than by new pharmacology. Fatty-acid acylation, Fc fusion and polymer microspheres extended the dosing interval from hours to a week; permeation-enhancer technology made the first oral peptide GLP-1 RA possible; and non-peptide agonists now bypass peptide delivery barriers altogether. In December 2025 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved oral semaglutide 25 mg for weight management, and in April 2026 it approved the small-molecule agonist orforglipron, so oral delivery is now an established part of the class rather than a prospect. This review describes the formulation strategies behind oral and long-acting GLP-1 RAs: molecular engineering for albumin binding, absorption enhancement with salcaprozate sodium (SNAC), non-peptide agonists, mechanical oral devices, biodegradable microspheres, implants and monthly-dosing concepts. The strategies are compared using half-life, dose burden and weight-loss data from pivotal trials. We then discuss the unresolved translational challenges: low and variable oral bioavailability, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) burden of oral peptides, dosing restrictions, drug interactions, stability, device-related failures, manufacturing capacity and gastrointestinal tolerability. We close with directions most likely to shape the next generation of products.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{209547,
        author = {Mr. Mukund Panukanti and P.Kushal Singh and Dr.Lalith Sagar Reddy Gade},
        title = {Formulation Strategies for Oral and Long-Acting GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: Recent Advances and Translational Challenges},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {5},
        pages = {2674-2683},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=209547},
        abstract = {Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have moved from a twice-daily diabetes injection to the most commercially and clinically significant drug class in metabolic medicine. Much of this shift was driven by pharmaceutics rather than by new pharmacology. Fatty-acid acylation, Fc fusion and polymer microspheres extended the dosing interval from hours to a week; permeation-enhancer technology made the first oral peptide GLP-1 RA possible; and non-peptide agonists now bypass peptide delivery barriers altogether. In December 2025 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved oral semaglutide 25 mg for weight management, and in April 2026 it approved the small-molecule agonist orforglipron, so oral delivery is now an established part of the class rather than a prospect. This review describes the formulation strategies behind oral and long-acting GLP-1 RAs: molecular engineering for albumin binding, absorption enhancement with salcaprozate sodium (SNAC), non-peptide agonists, mechanical oral devices, biodegradable microspheres, implants and monthly-dosing concepts. The strategies are compared using half-life, dose burden and weight-loss data from pivotal trials. We then discuss the unresolved translational challenges: low and variable oral bioavailability, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) burden of oral peptides, dosing restrictions, drug interactions, stability, device-related failures, manufacturing capacity and gastrointestinal tolerability. We close with directions most likely to shape the next generation of products.},
        keywords = {GLP-1 receptor agonist; oral peptide delivery; semaglutide; permeation enhancer; SNAC; long-acting injectable; PLGA microspheres; orforglipron; obesity; type 2 diabetes},
        month = {October},
        }

Cite This Article

Panukanti, M. M., & Singh, P., & Gade, D. S. R. (2026). Formulation Strategies for Oral and Long-Acting GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: Recent Advances and Translational Challenges. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 13(5), 2674–2683.

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