Weight-loss medications may offer a new avenue for treating alcohol use disorder, after a clinical trial found that semaglutide—the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic—reduced drinking by about 40% and significantly curbed cravings.
The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, involved 48 adults with alcohol-use disorder who were not actively seeking treatment. Participants were given low-dose injections of semaglutide or a placebo weekly for nine weeks, with the maximum dose reaching just 1.0mg. Before and after the treatment period, they were observed in a laboratory setting where they could drink their preferred alcoholic beverages.
Results showed that those receiving semaglutide consumed less alcohol in the lab and reported a 41% reduction in the number of drinks on drinking days. Weekly alcohol cravings fell by approximately 40%, and nearly 40% of the semaglutide group reported no heavy drinking days in the final month of treatment, compared with 20% in the placebo group.
Senior author Klara Klein, from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said the findings suggested semaglutide and similar drugs could fill an unmet need for alcohol use disorder treatment. She added that larger, longer studies in broader populations were needed to confirm safety and efficacy.
Dr Stephen Burgess of the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the research, described the study as small but exciting, noting that the drug likely dampens brain cues that drive cravings for both food and alcohol. Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, welcomed the findings, while stressing that broader measures on alcohol affordability and availability remain urgent.
