Can Ozempic slow Alzheimer's? Inside Novo Nordisk's big brain bet

Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight-loss drug Ozempic is now being tested in Alzheimer's patients in global trials that may redefine how metabolism links to brain health

Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of the weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy (GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide), is testing whether its blockbuster medicine can also treat Alzheimer’s disease.

 

According to the company, it is conducting two large-scale global trials, EVOKE and EVOKE+, involving more than 3,600 patients across 30 countries, all in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The results, expected by late 2025, could mark a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s and redefine how metabolic health connects to brain health.

 

How did a weight-loss drug end up in an Alzheimer’s trial?

 

It started with clinics and digital health records, when doctors noticed that people taking semaglutide for diabetes or obesity seemed less likely to develop dementia. Some studies found 40–70 per cent lower rates of Alzheimer’s diagnosis among long-term users.

 

A 2024 analysis published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia found a 53 per cent reduction in dementia diagnoses among diabetes patients who had been on semaglutide for two years.

 

So, Novo launched two global trials to test if semaglutide could actually treat Alzheimer’s, not just prevent it.

 

If semaglutide works, it could redefine how medicine understands the link between metabolism, inflammation, and brain health.

 

What do metabolism and Alzheimer’s have in common?

 

According to scientists, the brain runs on glucose, but when the body becomes resistant to insulin, as in diabetes or obesity, that energy supply falters. Over time, this “energy crisis” sparks inflammation, toxic protein buildup (amyloid and tau), and neuron loss, all hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.

 

Semaglutide, as a GLP-1 receptor agonist, improves how both the body and brain handle glucose. But scientists now think it does much more.

 

According to researchers at Imperial College London, GLP-1 drugs reduce systemic and brain inflammation, improve blood vessel health, and may preserve synaptic connections, all vital for brain function.

 

As Dr Martin Lange, Novo Nordisk’s Chief Scientific Officer, told the Financial Times, “People with obesity have double the risk of Alzheimer’s, and those with diabetes have triple. Fix the metabolism, and you might protect the brain.”

 

Can a weight-loss drug really reverse Alzheimer’s?

 

Most Alzheimer’s drugs today, such as lecanemab and donanemab, aim to slow cognitive decline, not reverse it. They target amyloid plaques but do not fix the deeper metabolic chaos in the brain.

 

According to Novo, semaglutide’s potential advantage lies in its multi-targeted action. Instead of chasing one mechanism, it might tackle several at once, calming inflammation, improving vascular health, balancing insulin, and protecting neurons. Even modest results could be revolutionary. 

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