The data, published in JAMA Psychiatry, add to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists for addictive disorders.
Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss therapy semaglutide—sold as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for chronic weight management—could potentially help people curb their cravings for and consumption of alcohol, according to a recent study.
These results, published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry, showed that low-dose semaglutide led to a significant drop in the amount of alcohol intake, as measured by both grams of alcohol consumed and peak alcohol concentration on a breath test. Participants on semaglutide also finished significantly fewer drinks on days that they would consume alcohol.
Though promising, these findings are far from conclusive. The study, a Phase II, double-blinded, randomized and parallel-arm trial, enrolled only 48 participants and treatment lasted only for nine weeks. The researchers called the trial’s size “modest,” indicative of its mid-stage nature.
Additionally, the study dosed semaglutide in a way that maximizes safety, which in turn “likely limited detection of significant effects,” the authors wrote.
Of note, Novo’s GLP-1 also significantly suppressed weekly alcohol cravings, as per a validated scale, and was predictive of lower heavy drinking over time. Semaglutide also showed a “significant treatment-by-time interaction” in people who were also current smokers—the incretin therapy was associated with “relatively greater” reductions in cigarettes per day versus placebo, according to the paper’s authors.
The findings point to the possibility of running larger, better-designed studies to explore the use of semaglutide in curbing drinking. If these further trials prioritize endpoints that the FDA accepts, they “will ultimately inform the potential of GLP-1RAs as an emergent class of [alcohol use disorder (AUD)] therapies,” the researchers wrote.
Wednesday’s results also add to the growing body of evidence that point to the therapeutic value of GLP-1 therapies beyond diabetes and weight loss—particularly their protective potential against addictive disorders.
In July 2024, for example, a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine found that patients on semaglutide were less likely to need medical assistance for tobacco use disorder versus other diabetes treatments. In September that same year, a retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Network Open linked Ozempic use to a lower risk of opioid overdose in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The biopharma industry is just starting to explore GLP-1s as a possible treatment for addiction. Most of the work in this area has been confined to universities and federal agencies, including the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which is running a Phase II AUD study of semaglutide in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Eli Lilly, one of the two GLP-1 frontrunners, is gearing up for large studies of its obesity assets in alcohol and drug abuse this year, Endpoints News reported in December.
