VA Launches 28-Week Semaglutide Trial for Alcohol Use Disorder as GLP-1 Data Build
Updated
Updated · NCHStats · Aug 24
VA Launches 28-Week Semaglutide Trial for Alcohol Use Disorder as GLP-1 Data Build
3 articles · Updated · NCHStats · Aug 24
Summary
The Department of Veterans Affairs has started CRAVE, a Phase 3 randomized, double-blind trial testing semaglutide against placebo in veterans with moderate or severe alcohol use disorder.
The 28-week study will use doses up to 2.4 mg a week and measure whether semaglutide cuts risky drinking, targeting a condition diagnosed in more than 400,000 VA patients.
The trial follows a 2026 analysis of 606,434 US veterans that linked GLP-1 drugs to fewer new substance use disorders and, among affected patients, fewer emergency visits, hospitalizations and deaths.
Human evidence is strongest for alcohol so far: a 48-person randomized trial found lower cravings and less drinking with semaglutide, while Swedish records tied semaglutide and liraglutide to fewer alcohol-related hospitalizations.
No GLP-1 drug is FDA-approved for addiction, and researchers still need larger controlled results to show whether an observed reduction in reward-driven cravings can become a reliable treatment.