Lorenzo Leggio

Is it a good tool to treat alcohol addiction?

Well, that's a great question, David.

So we don't know yet.

We are working on that.

We have actually quite robust research.

Very promising, growing literature in animal models, mouse and rat models that they drink excessively, that show that when we give GLP-1 drugs, such as the semaglutide, which is commercially known as Ozempic, Wegovy, Rebalsius, etc., these animals will drink less alcohol.

We also know from human research, in particular looking at the big data through electronic medical records, that the people who are on these medications, they tend to drink less alcohol compared to people who are not on these medications.

Now, these studies are not what we call randomized controlled trials, which sounds like a bunch of boozy words, but it's actually the gold standard how we develop new medications in medicine.

And so we do have at least one already published randomized controlled trial that shows that compared to placebo, semaglutide GLP-1 works better.

But we need more of these randomized controlled trials to make a final decision.

a claim that, in fact, that's the case.

Right, that's a great question.

So a couple of things.

There are people who anecdotally report that they receive a prescription of a GLP-1 medication, either off-label for alcohol craving, alcohol addiction, or they get the prescription for diabetes, obesity, which is not off-label, but they also report these reductions in alcohol drinking.

So that's, in fact, something that has been reported

over and over, although anecdotally.

And I keep on emphasizing anecdotally because, of course, people who may not hear these facts may not report, may not say, hey, I'm drinking less if they don't.

So the data may be a little skewed in a way, and this is exactly why we need controlled trials.

In terms of label, David, I will clarify.

So in order for a physician to prescribe a patient to consent and agree to use a medication of label, there must be evidence not only of safety, which is a must, but also of efficacy, even if the drug is not approved in the market.