Semaglutide is widely known for its effects on weight loss and appetite. A new clinical trial suggests its influence may extend beyond food.
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in The Lancet, researchers found that adults with both obesity and alcohol use disorder who received once-weekly semaglutide alongside cognitive behavioral therapy reduced heavy drinking days more than those receiving therapy plus placebo.
The study was funded in part by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, along with several Danish research foundations. Several authors also disclosed pharmaceutical industry relationships, including Novo Nordisk-related affiliations. Those ties do not negate the findings, but they make study design, replication and long-term follow-up especially important.
At the start of the trial, participants averaged about 17 heavy drinking days per month. After six months, that number dropped to roughly five days in the semaglutide group, compared with about nine days in the placebo group.
Overall alcohol consumption also fell more sharply with semaglutide. Participants taking the drug reduced their alcohol intake from roughly 2,200 grams per month at baseline to about 650 grams, while those on placebo decreased to approximately 1,175 grams.
The trial included 108 adults at a Danish mental health center, all of whom were actively seeking treatment for alcohol use disorder. Every participant also received cognitive behavioral therapy, meaning semaglutide was studied as part of a structured treatment approach rather than as a standalone intervention.
That distinction matters. This was not a study of casual drinkers, nor does it prove semaglutide alone can treat alcohol use disorder.
Researchers say the results add to growing evidence that GLP-1 drugs may influence broader reward pathways in the brain, potentially affecting cravings and compulsive behaviors beyond eating.
Still, the trial was relatively small, and researchers did not examine whether the reductions in drinking lasted after treatment stopped. Larger and longer-term studies will be needed to determine whether these effects hold up across broader populations and real-world settings.
For now, the findings offer an early but notable signal that medications originally developed for metabolic disease may also affect how the brain regulates reward, impulse and consumption.
The study was funded by The Research Foundation, Mental Health Services (Capital Region of Denmark), the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Novavi Foundation, the Hartmann Foundation and the Augustinus Foundation. Several authors reported pharmaceutical industry relationships, including Novo Nordisk-related ties.