CHICAGO – Novo Nordisk’s highly anticipated but ultimately unsuccessful Alzheimer’s trials were a long shot for the maker of blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, but scientists are still asking if GLP-1 drugs should be tested to prevent the disease in people at risk.
Novo’s trials tested Rybelsus, an older pill form of semaglutide, the same main ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy injections. The drug failed to meet the studies’ primary goal of delaying cognitive decline in hundreds of people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
But in a release scant on details, the Danish drugmaker said Rybelsus did improve some unspecified Alzheimer’s-related biological processes in both trials — clues that could help guide new studies, Alzheimer’s experts said.
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