(Updates to add Novo's Alzheimer trial failure)

By Patrick Wingrove

Nov 24 (Reuters) -

Novo Nordisk said an older version of its

weight-loss drug semaglutide failed to meet its main goal in

late-stage trials testing whether the medicine can slow

cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients.

The results is a blow to hopes that Alzheimer's could

open a major new market for GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide,

as Novo faces rising competition to its blockbuster drugs in its

core treatment areas of obesity and diabetes.

The drug tested was Rybelsus, a pill approved only for

type 2 diabetes. Like Novo's blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy, it

contains semaglutide.

Here are some of the other conditions the drugs are being

used and tested for:

Alcohol addiction

* A study conducted by the University of Copenhagen's

Psychiatric Centre Rigshospitalet is investigating whether

semaglutide - the main ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic - can

help reduce alcohol intake in 108 patients diagnosed with

alcohol use disorder and obesity.

Alzheimer's disease

* Novo Nordisk said an older version of semaglutide, branded

Rybelsus, failed to slow cognitive decline in early-stage

Alzheimer's patients in two trials, covering a combined 3,808

patients.

Cardiovascular disease

* Eli Lilly ( LLY ) was testing tirzepatide - the main ingredient in

Mounjaro and Zepbound - for patients with heart failure and

obesity. Lilly had said it would enroll about 700 people in the

study, but the company said in May that it has withdrawn its

U.S. application for heart failure approval.

* Novo won the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval in

2024 to use Wegovy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death,

heart attack and stroke in overweight or obese adults without

diabetes.

* The European Medicines Agency backed the use of Novo's

semaglutide to help ease heart failure symptoms in people with

obesity in September 2024.

Chronic kidney disease

* Novo's Ozempic is approved in the United States for reducing

the risk of kidney failure and disease progression as well as

the risk of death due to heart problems in diabetes patients

with chronic kidney disease.

* Lilly's tirzepatide is being evaluated in a mid-stage study

of patients with chronic kidney disease and obesity. Lilly plans

to enroll up to 140 participants with the study expected to be

completed next year.

Liver disease

* Novo's Wegovy in August became the first GLP-1 therapy

approved in the U.S. to treat adults with metabolic

dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, based on

results from the first part of its late-stage trial. Results

from the second part, with about 1,200 patients, is expected in

2029.

* Lilly's tirzepatide in February helped up to 74% of patients

achieve absence of MASH with no worsening of liver scarring at

52 weeks, compared with 13% of patients on placebo, in a

mid-stage trial.

Neurological disorders

* Researchers at the Danish Headache Center are testing

semaglutide along with a very low calorie diet as a treatment

for new-onset idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a condition

associated with obesity in which blood pressure inside the head

rises. The study has enrolled about 50 patients and is expected

to complete in October 2025.

Sleep apnea

* Zepbound was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration for obstructive sleep apnea in December 2024,

making it the first drug to directly treat patients with the

common disorder that causes breathing disruption while

sleeping.