Federal health officials have launched a nationwide clinical trial to find out whether a drug used to treat diabetes can help veterans cut back on drinking. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will test semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, as a treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD).
More than 400,000 veterans have been diagnosed with AUD, and some estimates suggest it affects nearly 11 percent of U.S. adults, according to the VA.
The trial arrives after a long stretch with few new options. No new medication for AUD has won U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in nearly 20 years, according to the trial’s listing on ClinicalTrials.gov.
The most widely prescribed drug, oral naltrexone, works only modestly well. Fewer than 2 percent of adults with the disorder take any medication for it in a given year, according to the trial listing.
The gap shows up inside the VA, too. Though it promotes medication as a best practice, only about 40,000 of the more than 400,000 veterans diagnosed with AUD are actively receiving it.
Semaglutide drew scientific interest because it may act on parts of the brain tied to how the body experiences reward.
A recent study in the British Medical Journal found that patients taking GLP-1 medications had lower rates of AUD and other substance use disorders than matched patients on other diabetes drugs.
People with existing substance use disorders who take GLP-1 drugs have also had fewer emergency visits and hospitalizations, the VA said. Those patterns are what pushed researchers toward a controlled trial.
“This clinical trial reflects medical research that VA is uniquely situated to launch, and is aimed directly at benefiting veterans,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a news release. “By exploring emerging treatment options like the use of a GLP-1 for AUD, we aim to expand the tools available to help Veterans take control of their health and recovery.”
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The study — called Cessation or Reduction of Alcohol Consumption in Veterans (CRAVE) — will enroll more than 600 veterans ages 18 to 80 with moderate or severe alcohol use disorder at 18 VA medical centers, from Seattle to Orlando, Florida.
Participants will receive weekly injections of either semaglutide or a placebo for about 24 weeks, followed by a safety follow-up.
Researchers will track changes in drinking, overall health, and quality of life to see whether the drug offers a meaningful alternative.
Recruitment opened July 28. Veterans who want to take part can contact their local VA medical center or see more info on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Black patients and veterans largely need to have meaningful representation in medical research evaluating emerging treatments for alcohol use disorder. It’s important to note that this VA trial isn’t just enrolling veterans and ignoring race. Its registered outcomes include examining reductions in heavy drinking and WHO drinking-risk levels by race category, including Black participants.
Greater representation can help researchers determine whether findings apply across different populations, and race-specific analyses can identify potential differences in treatment response. Including Black veterans can make future AUD research more informative for Black communities.
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More information
Visit the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for more information about treatment for alcohol use disorder.
SOURCES: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, July 30, 2026; ClinicalTrials.gov, July 23, 2006
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