Semaglutide for Helping Opioid Recovery
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Where
- Boston, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Status
- Recruiting
- Phase
- Phase 2
- People taking part
- 46 people, planned
- Started
- 2 Jun 2025
- Expected to end
- 15 Sept 2027
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets a placebo (a dummy treatment), for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Semaglutide
- Placebo
- Record updated
- 13 October 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 20 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- English-speaking adults aged 18 or older
- DSM-5 diagnosis of severe opioid use disorder (OUD)
- Receiving buprenorphine ≥16 mg/day or methadone ≥70 mg/day for at least 30 days prior to enrollment
- Planning to continue buprenorphine or methadone treatment throughout the study
- Willing to bring buprenorphine prescriptions to visits for dose counts (if applicable)
- Willing to authorize communication between the study team and their MOUD prescriber via a 42 CFR release
Who cannot take part
- Anticipated participation in another investigational drug trial
- Active psychosis, suicidality, homicidality, or psychiatric conditions impairing capacity to consent
- Current or lifetime history of an eating disorder
- Current or lifetime diagnosis of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes
- Personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN2
- Myocardial infarction, stroke, unstable angina, or congestive heart failure within the past 90 days
- History of inflammatory bowel disease, bariatric surgery, idiopathic pancreatitis, or diabetic gastroparesis
- History of hypersensitivity or allergy to semaglutide
- Any other condition that investigators determine may interfere with participation or pose a safety concern
- Liver function tests >3x the upper limit of normal or eGFR <30
- BMI <21 kg/m²
- GLP-1 receptor agonist use within the past 3 months or anticipated use during the study
- Persistently elevated BP (>160 mmHg systolic or >100 mmHg diastolic) during screening
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
Where in United States
- Brigham and Women's HospitalBoston, United StatesContact: Joji Suzuki, MDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The is a pilot, 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) newly initiating buprenorphine to receive either weekly injections of semaglutide (n=23) or matching placebo (n=23). The primary aim is to determine the effects of semaglutide on cue-reactivity among individuals with OUD. The secondary aim is to assess the preliminary efficacy, safety, and tolerability of semaglutide for OUD.
The 2 groups in the trial
- SemaglutideTreatment being tested
This arm will receive semaglutide (n=23). All participants will initially receive 0.25mg for 4 weeks, and then as tolerated dose will be increased to 0.5mg for 4 weeks. Then as tolerated, the dose will be increased to 1.0mg for 4 weeks.
- PlaceboPlacebo, for comparison
This arm will receive saline placebo (n=23).
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Semaglutide for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
- Record updated
- 13 October 2026