A recent article in the publication, Pharmaceutical Technology, provides an interesting view for those who seek to profit from the opioid epidemic. In an article about GLP-1 drugs and opioid use disorder, Pharmaceutical Technology news and features reporter, Jenna Philpott, explores the market potential for treating opioid addiction.

First comes the bad news: The market is not expected to grow much. Has the opioid addiction bubble already burst? Philpott cites a GlobalData report that “the opioid addiction market” across eight major democracies is expected to grow at a paltry 1.8% annual compound rate over the next decade. I couldn’t find the specific GlobalData report at their website, but I did find that for only $2,000 I could purchase this:

Empower your strategies with our Opium Withdrawal Syndrome — Drugs In Development, 2024 report and make more profitable business decisions.

It certainly is a profitable decision to enter opium withdrawal. 

Later in the article, Philpott serves up more bad news for opioid epidemic entrepreneurs: development of the new non-opioid painkiller, suzetrigine. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Journavx (suzetrigine) for the treatment of severe acute pain in January. It is the first in a whole new class of interventions that block pain signals from reaching the brain, rather than moderating their effects once they do.

As for GLP-1 drugs, Philpott notes that Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant, maker of GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, “is not currently conducting dedicated studies on substance use disorders.” As we have reported here before, the large drug companies are scared of discovering anything that hurts their current hold on the market for weight loss and Type 2 diabetes interventions.

Philpott follows the money, however, and finds the CEO of Eli Lilly promising to start research into tirzepatide against substance use disorders “in the near future.” Ely Lily manufactures Mounjaro and Zepbound, GLP-1 drugs using tirzepatide. So that leaves university and government-funded research.

Philpott again follows the money — in this case, a series of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research into the use of GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). She zooms in on Patricia “Sue” Grigson-Kennedy, MS, PhD, Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at Pennsylvania State University (PennState).

Dr. Grigson-Kennedy received an NIH grant for a Phase 2 trial of liraglutide (brand name Saxenda) — manufactured by Novo Nordisk — for the treatment of opioid use disorder. The study enrolled 27 people receiving inpatient treatment for OUD, including the option of taking buprenorphine. Philpott is enthusiastic about the outcome:

The results showed a 40% reduction in opioid cravings among those taking Saxenda, an effect that was evident even at the lowest dose.

Dr. Grigson-Kennedy explained that one reason the GLP-1 worked so well in the reduction of cravings is that it worked so quickly, with patients feeling relief within hours from even the smallest dosage tested. The results of that research led to NIH funding for a broader study of GLP-1 drugs against OUD, involving 200 patients across three sites.

Who knows if this research will ever be completed and reported out? Funding for NIH grants has been disrupted recently, with universities not receiving funding previously committed to. Perhaps Dr. Grigson-Kennedy and her associates need to make a meme coin to lure profit-seeking private equity funds into helping addicts turn a corner toward a better life?

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published March , 2025.

Sources:

“GLP-1RAs and opioid use disorder: a new frontier in addiction treatment,” Pharmaceutical Technology, February 19, 2025.

“Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order,” Nature, February 24, 2025.

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