By Patrick Wingrove

(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 i

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