Novo Nordisk will explore how the science behind its blockbuster obesity drugs could help patients struggling with addiction, its head of development Martin Holst Lange said on Thursday.
GLP-1 drugs on the market include Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, its weight-loss treatment Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s obesity drug Zepbound.
But the class of drugs, which work by helping control blood sugar levels and triggering a feeling of fullness, are also being studied to see whether they can improve health in other ways.
“We will further look into this and explore how we can help patients with addiction, potentially with GLP-1,” Mr Lange said.
“It has to be addressed in a scientific, and obviously also from a regulatory perspective, very rigorous way so we can really see the potential impact of GLP-1 in that space,” he added.
Speaking exclusively to The Irish Times, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice-president of commercial strategy and corporate affairs, Camilla Sylvest said that where there is evidence that its semaglutide drug – the active ingredient behind Ozempic and Wegovy – can make a contribution to health, it will pursue it.
“What Martin talked about on the call this morning in terms of reducing cravings, there might be a signal that this is something that could be interesting to look into,” she said.
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One of the ways, its GLP-1 medicines work is by activating receptors in the brain that have a role in controlling hunger and the feeling of being full, to reduce feelings of hunger. The question is whether it can do much the same with addiction’s cravings.
Ms Sylvest pointed to results due later this year from a trial on the impact of GLP-1 on the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, noting that the company had begun the trial “some years back when we also saw a signal that people on GLP-1 in registries apparently had a slower onset of Alzheimer’s than people who were not treated with GLP-1. We felt it was our obligation to pursue this further.
“On addiction, it is a similar situation in that we will consider looking into it because we see some signals that semaglutide might be beneficial in that direction. But this is still early days,” she cautioned.
