At Quel Health, we are actively keeping up with the evolving evidence on GLP-1s and addiction. As part of that effort, we follow the clinical trials that are underway.

Here’s an overview of the clinical trials we are tracking on ClinicalTrials.gov, a public registration database that is required for all US trials, as of October 5, 2026, along with our takeaways.

Please see the bottom of this post for the full list.

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. Treat it as a guide. If we missed something, please reach out!

• We are following 65 RCTs examining incretin and related gut hormone-based agents for indications related to addiction.
• Alcohol use disorder and tobacco/nicotine use disorder have the most trials registered (27 and 12, respectively). Trials are also underway for cannabis (4), stimulant use disorder (10), opioid use disorder (4), binge eating disorder (7), other behavioral compulsions (1), and addiction/reward pathways more generally (2).
• Medications that are already FDA-approved for other indications and are being studies for addiction include, from most common to least common: semaglutide (Wegovy®/Ozempic®), tirzepatide (Mounjaro®, Zepbound®), and exenatide (Byetta®, Bydureon®), and liraglutide (Victoza®, Saxenda®). The older trials tend to be those with earlier, less potent medications like exenatide and liraglutide.
• There are novel pharmacotherapies also under investigation, including pemvidutide by Altimmune, brenipatide and mazdutide by Eli Lilly, and cagrilintide, a once-monthly medication under investigation by Novo Nordisk.
• Several clinical trials are complete, but have yet to publish results. Peer review takes time, and we expect findings for the following trials to come out soon. We’ll report the results here as they become available:
  • NCT05891587: Semaglutide Therapy for Alcohol Reduction - Tulsa, sponsored by Oklahoma State University, completed October 2025. The companion trial to this, NCT06015893 Semaglutide Therapy for Alcohol Reduction (STAR), sponsored by NIDA’s intramural research program, finished recruitment but is not yet complete.
  • NCT06409130: Effects of NNC0194-0499, Cagrilintide, and Semaglutide Alone or in Combinations on Liver Damage and Alcohol Use in People With Alcohol-related Liver Disease, sponsored by Novo Nordisk, completed January 2026
  • NCT05610800: Exenatide for Smoking Cessation and Prevention of Weight Gain, completed March 2026
  • NCT06817356: A Study to Evaluate Mazdutide Compared With Placebo in Participants With Alcohol Use Disorder, sponsored by Eli Lilly, completed May 2026
  • NCT06987513: RECLAIM STUDY: Phase 2 Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Pemvidutide in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in Subjects With Obesity or Overweight, sponsored by Altimmune, completed July 2026
  • NCT06745128: Tirzepatide for Obesity and Meth Use Disorder, sponsored by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, completed February 2026; phase 2 trial by the same investigators just registered

View the full table

That’s all for now. We will continue tracking these trials and other developments on Quel the Noise.

-Marlene & Steve