Semaglutide has dominated global headlines in recent years through medicines such as Wegovy and Ozempic.
Its success treating type 2 diabetes and supporting weight loss led scientists to ask a bigger question: could the same drug influence diseases of the brain?
According to reporting from Science, Novo Nordisk funded two major trials, EVOKE and EVOKE+, to explore that idea.
Together they followed nearly 3,800 people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease for two years.
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Participants were randomly assigned either a daily pill of semaglutide or a placebo, with research teams in several countries involved in the effort.
Early pooled data now indicate that the treatment did not slow the decline in memory and thinking compared with the placebo group.
The finding has disappointed researchers who hoped the drug’s metabolic and anti-inflammatory actions might translate into measurable cognitive benefits.
Why scientists thought semaglutide might work
Interest in the drug’s neurological potential was fueled by earlier observations.
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People taking GLP-1–based medications for diabetes appeared to have lower rates of conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Laboratory studies also pointed to reduced inflammation in nerve tissue and slower accumulation of amyloid plaque, an established hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
Geir Selbæk, a leading dementia researcher in Norway, told Forskning.no that the lack of symptom improvement is discouraging, though he considers it noteworthy that some biological markers linked to the disease did shift in response to treatment.
Those findings, he said, merit closer examination.
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What researchers hope to learn next
Scientists caution that the story is not finished.
Additional analyses from EVOKE and EVOKE+ are expected to explore whether semaglutide affects inflammation in the brain or benefits subgroups of patients, such as those with cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
Independent experts, including GLP-1 specialist Daniel Drucker of the University of Toronto, note that the size and diversity of the trials may also clarify whether any neurological effects occur independently of weight loss.
Sources: Forskning.no, and Science.
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