Learn about brain health and nootropics to boost brain function
Novo’s older obesity drug shows biological effect on Alzheimer’s patients in small trial
FILE PHOTO: A view of the logo of Novo Nordisk at the company’s office in Bagsvaerd, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark, March 8, 2024. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab CHICAGO/LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) – Data from a small clinical trial published on Tuesday showed that a drug from the GLP-1 receptor agonist class known for weight loss slowed the loss of brain volume in people with mild Alzheimer’s disease.
The trial results, published at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, provided the first glimpse of how GLP-1 drugs may act on hard-to-treat brain disorders.
The trial studied just 204 patients in Britain, half of whom received Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab earlier-generation GLP-1 drug liraglutide, and the other half a placebo.
The trial did not meet its primary endpoint, or main goal, which was change in the cerebral glucose metabolic rate, an assessment of brain function.
It did meet the secondary endpoints. It showed liraglutide appeared to reduce shrinking in the parts of the brain that control memory, learning, language and decision-making by nearly 50% compared to placebo.
The trial was not sponsored by Novo. However, the Danish drugmaker is testing its new-generation, more effective GLP-1 drug semaglutide — sold as diabetes drug Ozempic and obesity drug Wegovy — in thousands of patients with early Alzheimer’s. Its two trials began in 2021 and results are expected in 2025.
Rebecca Edelmeyer, senior director of scientific engagement at the Alzheimer’s Association, told Reuters in an interview that the results published on Tuesday were “really intriguing”.
“This is our first time really seeing this type of intervention readout in a clinical trial,” she said.
Researchers told Reuters last year that diabetes regimens, from Ozempic to insulin and metformin, appear to address several different aspects of the metabolic system implicated in Alzheimer’s, including a protein called amyloid and inflammation.
The hope is that improving glucose utilisation and reducing inflammation in the body – including the brain – could slow progression of Alzheimer’s.
Still, the trial published on Tuesday was not designed to measure cognitive benefits, and some scientists urged caution.
“The repurposing of drugs is an important avenue of research but there is a lot of uncertainty here,” said Stephen Evans, emeritus professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
He said the shrinking in the memory and learning parts of the brain observed in the small trial “may not translate to important cognitive benefits” and the results did not demonstrate that liraglutide could protect against dementia, though pursuing a larger trial would be worthwhile.
Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Bernadette Baum
Purchase Licensing Rights
Maggie is a Britain-based reporter covering the European pharmaceuticals industry with a global perspective. In 2023, Maggie’s coverage of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and its race to increase production of its new weight-loss drug helped the Health & Pharma team win a Reuters Journalists of the Year award in the Beat Coverage of the Year category. Since November 2023, she has also been participating in Reuters coverage related to the Israel-Hamas war. Previously based in Nairobi and Cairo for Reuters and in Lagos for the Financial Times, Maggie got her start in journalism in 2010 as a freelancer for The Associated Press in South Sudan.