Can Novo Nordisk's Weight Loss Drug Ozempic Help Stem The Devastating Addiction Crisis? New Research Says Yes

A new study has found that people with a history of opioid abuse who took Novo Nordisk‘s NVO Ozempic weight loss drug were significantly less likely to overdose, adding to growing evidence suggesting that the drug, primarily used for diabetes and weight loss, could help manage drug addiction.

According to the study published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, patients on semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and the weight-loss drug Wegovy, were less than half as likely to overdose compared to those on insulin. People taking semaglutide were 63% less likely to overdose than individuals on DPP-4 inhibitors, another common class of diabetes medication.

Rong Xu, professor of biomedical informatics at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University, led the research, which had previously linked semaglutide to reductions in alcohol use disorder and smoking. This is the first large-scale study to evaluate opioid overdoses.

The reduced risk associated with semaglutide persisted across most diabetes treatments, except for Eli Lilly and Co.’s LLY Trulicity, according to the study, which was first reported by Bloomberg.

Read Also: Novo Nordisk CEO To Face Senate Scrutiny Over High Ozempic And Wegovy Prices, Hearing Scheduled On Tuesday

Why It Matters: Drug overdose deaths are at historically high levels in the U.S.

Over 108,000 people died from an overdose in 2022, according to provisional data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the one-year period ending in January 2024, there were over 76,922 fatal drug overdoses.

These overdose deaths are only part of the severity of the problem.

“That overdose number is only looking at overdoses. It’s not looking at the person who dies of bacterial endocarditis related to their drug and alcohol use,” said Cara Poland, an addiction medicine doctor at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, per Axios.

As powerful new drugs like Ozempic grow in popularity for weight loss, interest is increasing in their potential to curb cravings for substances beyond food. Novo Nordisk is also exploring the drug’s effects on alcohol consumption in an ongoing clinical trial.

Now Read: EXCLUSIVE: Novo Nordisk Faces Political Heat Over Weight-Loss Drug Prices Ahead Of Elections, Yet ‘The Real Issue Is With The Middlemen’