Weight-loss drugs cut drug and alcohol abuse, according to new study

Drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster Ozempic can cut drug and alcohol abuse by up to 50% according to a new study, adding to mounting evidence that the drugs yield health benefits beyond diabetes and weight loss.

In a study published Thursday in scientific journal Addiction, around 500,000 people with a history of opioid use disorder were analyzed, of which just more than 8,000 were taking either GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic or the similar GIP class of drugs that Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro belongs to.

GLP-1 drugs work by mimicking a gut hormone to control blood sugar and suppress appetite while GIP medications take a dual-target approach by mimicking both the GLP-1 hormone and a second gut hormone that is believed to enhance the drug’s effectiveness.

The study found that those taking the drugs had a 40% lower rate of opioid overdose compared with those who didn’t.

Similarly, an analysis of more than 5,600 people with a history of alcohol use disorder and who took the drugs showed they had a 50% lower rate of intoxication compared with those who didn’t take them.

“Our study… reveals the possibilities of a novel therapeutic pathway in substance use treatment,” the study’s lead researcher Fares Qeadan and co-authors of the research report Ashlie McCunn and Benjamin Tingey said.

The researchers, from Loyola University Chicago, said the study opens avenues for more comprehensive and effective treatment strategies for opioid and alcohol use disorders.

Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy weight-loss drug and Ozempic diabetes treatment are based on the same active ingredient, semaglutide, and the company is developing the next generation of treatments that combine it with other ingredients to enhance benefits and improve other areas of health.

The runaway success of semaglutide-based drugs has already been shown to yield extra health benefits, with studies proving they also cut the risks of stroke and heart attacks as well as slowing the progression of kidney failure and improving pain and physical function in patients with osteoarthritis.

Novo Nordisk is also trialing the effectiveness of its drugs in reducing alcohol consumption and treating alcoholic liver disease and is conducting a late stage trial to test semaglutide as a treatment for Alzheimer’s.

European regulators recently backed the use of Wegovy to help lower the risk of heart failure in obese patients, having already approved the drug as a treatment to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes in overweight or obese adults without diabetes. The company plans to seek U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for Wegovy’s expanded treatment coverage in 2025.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com