New research holds potential to treat opioid use disorder

by IANS |

New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) New research into GLP-1 receptor has opened a realm of new treatment possibilities to treat opioid use disorder (OUD), a report said on Tuesday.

A three-week Phase I study conducted at the Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania in the US, enrolling 20 participants undergoing residential treatment for OUD, assessed Novo Nordisk’s Saxenda (liraglutide), a GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), as a monotherapy for OUD.

The study displayed its potential to rival existing treatments and showed a 40 per cent reduction in opioid cravings among those taking Saxenda, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Originally developed for treating diabetes, GLP-1RAs work by stimulating insulin secretion and suppressing glucagon release, thereby helping regulate blood sugar.

“However, there are GLP-1 receptors in the brain’s mesolimbic system, which is inextricably linked to motivation and reward. This has piqued the interest of drug developers looking to expand the label of their products to combat the opioid crisis,” said Jos Opdenakker, pharma analyst at GlobalData.

Early clinical work has shown that GLP-1RAs are a promising new avenue in the treatment of OUD, as the current treatment landscape is stifled by a lack of innovation and a heavy reliance upon opioid agonist therapies, he noted.

According to GlobalData’s Drug Database, six out of the seven agents currently in late-stage development (Phase IIb–III) are non-opioids.

Currently, there is a lack of available efficacy data for many of the pipeline agents. Therefore, despite the presence of non-opioids in the pipeline, high-efficacy non-opioid OUD treatments remain an exploitable opportunity.

In addition to OUD, GLP-1RAs are also being investigated in other neurology indications, such as to treat Alzheimer’s disease and associated cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s disease, alcohol dependence, peripheral neuropathy, and intracranial hypertension.

Developers have recognised the potential of GLP-1RAs, and a new class of neurological agents is developing.