Since U.S. regulators signed off on Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic back in 2017, it’s taken the country – and the world – by storm. By the end of 2024, Reuters reports, regulators approved nearly two dozen other semaglutide treatments in Bangladesh, Laos, Russia and Paraguay.
And it’s easy to see why. Worldwide Ozempic sales hit $13.5 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, Lily Allen’s Mounjaro – Ozempic’s primary competitor – racked up $5.1 billion in sales in 2024
In a quarterly earnings call in early February, David Moore, Novo’s head of U.S. operations and global business development, pointed out that the GLP-1 med has reached about 200,000 weekly prescriptions in the United States.
“The total market for anti-obesity medicines grew in the U.S. last year by 160 percent,” Moore added.
Expect that winning streak to continue. A new phase 2 clinical trial appears to have demonstrated that semaglutide – a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist – can also curb alcohol consumption and cravings.
The trial’s promising results suggest that semaglutide, already a boon for diabetics, might also work as an effective AUD treatment.
Methodology – and Results
Researchers conducted the double-blind, randomized clinical trial over nine weeks at a U.S. academic medical center from September 2022 to February 2024.
It included 48 non–treatment-seeking adults with AUD that the team pulled from a pool of more than 500 candidates. Researchers administered weekly subcutaneous injections of semaglutide at increasing doses (0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, and 1.0 mg) or a placebo.
The researchers established a benchmark based on the amount of alcohol participants consumed during a laboratory self-administration task conducted before and after treatment. Results showed that low-dose semaglutide significantly reduced alcohol consumption and peak breath alcohol concentration post-treatment. While it didn’t seem to shift other numbers – such as the number of drinking days or average drinks per day – semaglutide notably reduced the number of drinks per drinking day and weekly alcohol cravings compared to the placebo group.
A notable secondary finding was the reduction in cigarette consumption among participants who smoked, suggesting semaglutide’s potential for broader substance use treatment.
Significance of Findings
Alcohol remains a leading driver of global morbidity and mortality, playing a part in cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and cancer (among others). Yet, despite widespread prevalence rates, AUD remains under-treated. Less than 10 percent of affected individuals receive treatment while less than 2 percent benefit from pharmacotherapy. And existing FDA-approved treatments remain scarce.
Semaglutide’s apparent efficacy in reducing alcohol intake aligns with preclinical studies showing that GLP-1RAs suppress alcohol consumption in animals. The reductions in alcohol use that the researchers documented during the trial occurred with a group of participants not really interested in seeking relief.
Moving Forward
The trial’s findings could prove to be monumental, especially since the semaglutide doses were modest. The researchers add that higher doses, more commonly prescribed for weight loss, could yield even greater reductions in alcohol consumption. The drug’s potential to treat both alcohol and cigarette use could have substantial public health benefits, particularly for populations at high risk due to concurrent substance use and obesity.
The existing AUD treatment landscape remains barren. The FDA’s only approved three drugs for AUD treatment since 1951.
“These data suggest the potential of semaglutide and similar drugs to fill an unmet need for the treatment of alcohol use disorder,” senior author Klara Klein of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine said in a press release. “Larger and longer studies in broader populations are needed to fully understand the safety and efficacy in people with alcohol use disorder, but these initial findings are promising.”
Conversely, the dramatic rise of GLP-1RAs offers a rare opportunity to repurpose the diabetic treatment to help curb alcohol and cigarette use, boosting health outcomes on a grand scale.
The results warrant broader phase 3 clinical trials to further explore the efficacy and safety of GLP-1RAs for AUD treatment, the authors contend. With the potential to fill a huge gap in AUD pharmacotherapy, semaglutide could break new ground in addiction treatment.
Further Reading
Ozempic And Other Weight Loss Drugs Linked To Antidepressant Use
Brain-Targeting Drug Similar to Ozempic Shows Promise in Parkinson’s
