(Bloomberg) - Novo Nordisk is dipping a toe into research on whether weight-loss drugs can help people drink less alcohol, a field it’s avoided so far as it concentrates on other conditions. 

The Danish drugmaker is planning a study whose secondary goal is seeing whether its compounds can change daily alcohol consumption, according to a US government clinical trials registry. The main objective of the mid-stage trial, expected to start recruitment this month, is measuring the drugs’ impact on fibrosis in patients with liver disease.

Drugs included in the trial are Novo’s semaglutide — sold under the Ozempic and Wegovy brands — as well as its experimental medicine cagrisema, which combines semaglutide with another compound that works differently. Also to be tested is an early-stage drug that targets a hormone called fibroblast growth factor 21 and is known to have potential in liver disease, said Martin Holst Lange, Novo’s development chief. 

Novo Nordisk has already studied its anti-obesity medications in other conditions like heart disease, but has been reluctant to investigate weight-loss drugs for alcoholism, where their commercial potential remains uncertain. The medicines are thought to affect dopamine, the neurotransmitter that helps regulate pleasurable sensations — including enjoyment of food and wine — prompting independent researchers to push forward with studies. 

Lange had told investors last year that if Novo were to start its own work in alcoholism, it would probably use cagrisema, not its blockbuster Wegovy.

The study beginning this month is recruiting patients with a history of alcohol overuse, but designed to focus mostly on liver damage and alcohol use in people with liver disease, not alcoholism itself. Lange said this week the company has “high aspirations” for both cagrisema and the drug that targets fibroblast growth factor 21 to treat liver disease.