Researchers study weight loss drugs in dementia and addiction
Douglas Cliff
Backed by encouraging early data, researchers have started clinical studies to test if blockbuster weight loss drugs such as Wegovy can treat dementia, addiction, and other neurological conditions.
Christian Hendershot, director of the clinical and translational addiction research program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is one such investigator.
Hendershot is studying whether the appetite-controlling methods of weight loss therapies can treat neurological conditions such as alcohol and drug addiction.
Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk (NVO) demonstrated cardiovascular benefits of the GLP1 agonist in August, indicating that the drug, also known as semaglutide, led to a 20% decline in major cardiovascular events in obese or overweight adults in a Phase 3 trial.
With years of preclinical data pointing to the impact of GLP1s on drug and alcohol intake in animals, Hendershot is studying if Novo's (NVO) diabetes medicine Ozempic, which is used off-label for weight loss, can lead to similar effects in humans.
"There is reason for optimism, particularly given the reports," said Hendershot, who expects to publish early data from the trial in 2024.
Meanwhile, Kyle Simmons, professor of pharmacology and physiology at Oklahoma State University, leads a Phase 2 trial to test semaglutide in alcohol use disorder.
Named Semaglutide Therapy for Alcohol Reduction (STAR), Simmons' 12-week placebo-controlled study runs parallel to a similar study at the University of Baltimore.
"If those two studies both read out, and they're both positive, it's hard to overstate the effect this will have on the field," he added.
Another semaglutide-based trial is underway at the University of Oxford to test if the drug can lead to a decline in tau accumulation and brain inflammation in patients at risk of developing dementia.
 "We want to see if these drugs are interfering with the core Alzheimer's disease pathology," senior researcher Ivan Koychev, who leads the trial, said.
While Biogen (BIIB) leads the market for Alzheimer's drugs, other drugmakers, including weight loss drug developer Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), as well as Prothena (PRTA), Anavex Life Sciences (AVXL), Cassava Sciences (SAVA), and Alector (ALEC), are trialing rival candidates.

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