New research from US and Swedish scientists suggests that semaglutide, the powerful ingredient in weight loss medications like Wegovy and Ozempic, could serve as a novel treatment for cocaine dependence. Long recognized for its monumental breakthrough in the battle against obesity, semaglutide, a GLP-1 agonist, has now shown promising results in curbing cocaine use in animal studies, building upon earlier findings related to alcohol consumption and craving.

The findings indicate that semaglutide injections could reduce cocaine use by over a quarter. Specifically, a study on male rats demonstrated that self-administration of cocaine dropped by 26 percent in animals treated with semaglutide. Furthermore, rats that underwent a period of abstinence from cocaine were 52 percent less likely to resume use when taking semaglutide, with motivation for cocaine seeking dropping by 62 percent after abstinence. Higher doses of the injection were found to produce a more sustained reduction in cocaine taking, suggesting a dose-dependent effect.

While the exact mechanism remains unclear, experts hypothesize that the reduction in cocaine use might be linked to an overall decrease in dopamine levels evoked by cocaine in the rats' brains, similar to effects observed in earlier studies on alcohol. Professor Elisabet Jerlhag from the University of Gothenburg, a lead author of the study, emphasized the need for further research to confirm these findings and investigate their applicability to humans, especially given the current lack of pharmacological treatments for cocaine dependency.

The potential for a new addiction treatment comes at a critical time, particularly in the UK, which faces a significant challenge with cocaine use. British adults are consuming record amounts of cocaine hydrochloride, with the UK holding the world’s second-highest rate of cocaine use, estimated at around 117 tonnes annually, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It is also Europe's largest market for the drug. Cocaine-related fatalities in the UK tragically reached 1,100 in 2023, a thousand-fold increase from 1993, with the highest drug-death rates observed among men aged 40-49 in ‘Generation X’.

Semaglutide's current applications include helping users lose significant weight—up to 33lbs (15.3kg) on average over 68 weeks—by tricking the brain into feeling full and thereby reducing appetite. It has been available for type 2 diabetes management since 2017 in the US and 2019 in the NHS, and approved for weight loss under the brand Wegovy in 2021 (US) and 2022 (Britain). Like all medications, semaglutide has potential side effects, including nausea, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches, dizziness, and in some cases, hair loss. The economic burden of weight-related illnesses, contributing to issues like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, currently costs the UK economy £74 billion annually.