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November 24, 2025<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
GLP-1 Pill Fails to Slow Alzheimer\u2019s Progression in Clinical Trial<\/p>\n
Top-line results from two large clinical trials by Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, found oral semaglutide failed to slow down Alzheimer’s progression<\/p>\n
By Lauren J. Young edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Brain CT scans of Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n The pill version of Novo Nordisk\u2019s blockbuster weight-loss medication, semaglutide, failed to slow down Alzheimer\u2019s progression in an initial analysis of two clinical phase 3 trials. The company behind the weekly injectable diabetes medication Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy, which are also known as GLP-1 drugs, announced the top-line results today.<\/p>\n Endocrinologist Daniel Drucker says that the trials were well-done but the results are \u201ca setback for the field.\u201d Novo Nordisk confirmed in a statement to Scientific American that the company is ending its semaglutide trials on Alzheimer\u2019s, including tests involving the injectable version of the drug.<\/p>\n \u201cGLP-1 [drugs] have given us so many wonderful results, but tackling these very challenging brain disorders has been disappointing,\u201d says Drucker, who has consulted for Novo Nordisk in the past but does not currently. \u201cNo one expected that it was going to shut down the progression of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, but there was a hope that we would see some benefit, and we didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Animal models and reviews of real-world data have previously suggested that GLP-1 drugs might reduce the risk or slow development of Alzheimer\u2019s. The reason why remains elusive, although researchers including Drucker suggest that these drugs might reduce inflammation associated with certain neurological conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cGLP-1 does reduce inflammation in many parts of the body, and inflammation does drive part of the pathology of Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Novo Nordisk\u2019s trials, called evoke and evoke+, involved 3,808 people aged 55 to 85 who had early-stage Alzheimer\u2019s, classified as having mild cognitive impairment as a result of the disease. During most of the 156-week trial, the researchers gave half the participants 14 milligrams of oral semaglutide once a day, while the other half received a placebo.<\/p>\n Participants who took the drug did show some improvements in Alzheimer\u2019s biomarkers, but treatment didn\u2019t delay disease progression, according to the company.<\/p>\n Drucker says there are many potential explanations why oral semaglutide didn\u2019t work as hoped. The fatty-acid structure surrounding semaglutide might have prevented it from being able to penetrate certain brain regions, such as the hippocampus, which controls memory and cognitive function. Past studies evaluating the connection between GLP-1 treatment and Alzheimer\u2019s risk or development have mostly drawn from data on the injectables, raising questions on whether changing how people take the drug or the dosage could elicit a different outcome, Drucker says, though he adds that giving higher doses to some older adults may also come with additional risks.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are not wonder drugs that will fix everything that is wrong with us, and that\u2019s why we have to do the clinical trials, and we need rigorous evidence,\u201d Drucker says, adding that Novo Nordisk deserves credit for doing the trials despite the low odds of success.<\/p>\n Novo Nordisk plans to present the findings at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer\u2019s Disease (CTAD) conference next week and the full datasets at the AD\/PD Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s Diseases Conference in March 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to analyze the data and may not have the answer to the \u2018why\u2019 next week when we share the results at CTAD,\u201d a Novo Nordisk spokesperson told Scientific American.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" November 24, 2025 2 min read GLP-1 Pill Fails to Slow Alzheimer\u2019s Progression in Clinical Trial Top-line results from two large clinical trials by Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, found oral semaglutide failed to slow down Alzheimer’s progression By Lauren J. Young edited by Claire Cameron Brain CT scans of Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[10032,9047,6325,19906,934,18598,7469,2131],"class_list":{"0":"post-35298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-alzheimers","9":"tag-clinical","10":"tag-fails","11":"tag-glp1","12":"tag-pill","13":"tag-progression","14":"tag-slow","15":"tag-trial"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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