FACTBOX-What other health conditions are weight-loss drugs being used and tested for?

By Patrick Wingrove

July 29 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly's LLY.N blockbuster diabetes drug and related weight-loss therapy Mounjaro and Zepbound, and Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO rival medicines Ozempic and Wegovy brought in combined sales of over $40 billion last year and are expected to post $60 billion in 2025 sales.

Still, Novo Nordisk said on Tuesday that the rise in copycat versions of its weight-loss drug in the U.S. and competition from Lilly across several markets is expected to hurt Wegovy sales this year.

The companies have been testing these GLP-1 drugs for other medical uses, looking to boost sales and widen their coverage by health insurers, with some success. 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 is testing semaglutide in a late-stage trial in patients with early Alzheimer's disease. The study, which will enroll 1,840 patients, could have an initial data readout as early as later this year.

Cardiovascular disease

* Eli Lilly 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 Lilly had said it would enroll about 700 people in the study, but the company said in May that it has withdrawn its U.S. application for heart failure approval.

* 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 is testing semaglutide in a late-stage trial of patients with a common, but difficult to treat, type of fatty liver disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. The study is expected to be completed in April 2029 and include about 1,200 patients.

* Lilly's tirzepatide helped up to 74% of patients achieve absence of the disease with no worsening of liver scarring at 52 weeks, compared with 13% of patients on placebo, in a mid-stage trial for NASH, which is also now referred to as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.

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.