GLP-1s and Alcohol? Altimmune Just Launched a Phase 2 Trial to Find Out
Altimmune just made a big move in the world of GLP-1 research, but this time, it’s not about obesity.
The company announced yesterday that it has officially begun enrolling participants in a Phase 2 trial of pemvidutide, its GLP-1 and glucagon dual receptor agonist, to evaluate the drug in people with Alcohol Use Disorder, or AUD. The trial, called RECLAIM, is being led by Dr. Henry Kranzler from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Studies of Addiction, and it aims to see whether weekly 2.4 mg doses of pemvidutide can reduce heavy drinking in adults with AUD.
Let that sink in for a minute. A GLP-1 analog, part of the same class of drugs making headlines for weight loss and diabetes, is now being tested to curb alcohol consumption. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first med of its class to be tested in AUD. In fact, we already have some data on Semaglutide:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2829811
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-48267-2
According to the Altimmune trial design, about 100 participants across 15 sites in the United States will be randomized to receive either pemvidutide or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary outcome is simple but meaningful: “How many heavy drinking days per week they have at the end of the study compared to when they started.” Secondary outcomes include changes in WHO risk categories and levels of phosphatidylethanol, a blood biomarker for alcohol use.
The science here is fascinating. Pemvidutide showed an 80 percent drop in alcohol preference in a preclinical animal model. And it makes sense. GLP-1 drugs already affect the reward centers of the brain, which is why many users report less interest in food, alcohol, even nicotine. This trial could offer hard data to back up what many in the community have been whispering. These drugs don’t just change your waistline. They change your brain.
And that matters. More than 28 million Americans live with AUD, but fewer than 10 percent receive treatment. Fewer than 2 percent are prescribed one of the three FDA approved medications for it. Those options haven’t changed in decades, and compliance rates are low. Pemvidutide could bring something new to a field that desperately needs innovation.
Altimmune is simultaneously studying this drug for obesity, MASH, and soon alcohol related liver disease. The overlap isn’t accidental. Obesity, liver disease, and AUD often go together. The fact that a single molecule could address all three is part of why there’s growing buzz around dual receptor agonists like pemvidutide.
Topline data from their MASH trial is expected this summer, and the alcohol liver disease trial will begin enrolling in the fall.
If you’ve been following the rise of GLP-1s as obesity drugs, this is a story worth watching. Because it might just be the beginning of a bigger shift, one where the same class of medicines that are reshaping our understanding of metabolism start to rewrite the playbook for addiction medicine too.
Stay tuned to OnThePen.com for more updates and in-depth analysis on the latest developments in weight loss and diabetes treatments. Sharing this article is a powerful form of advocacy that brings us closer to our goal of educating the masses and reducing the stigma of obesity and metabolic disease. If you found this article insightful, please share it within your networks, especially in Facebook groups and Reddit forums dedicated to GLP-1 medications, addiction recovery, or liver disease. Together, we can make a difference.