Smokers with type 2 diabetes who took Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic sought less tobacco-related medical help and also had fewer interventions to help them quit smoking compared with those who took other diabetes drugs, according to a study of electronic health records published Monday.

One year after starting treatment, Ozempic users with a previous diagnosis of tobacco use disorder were 32% less likely to discuss tobacco use with a healthcare provider than those taking other diabetes medications. This was also true compared with those taking a similar class of medications called GLP-1 receptor agonists, the researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

They were also 68% less likely to receive a prescription for smoking cessation medication, and 21% less likely to receive counseling to stop smoking.

The findings were drawn from electronic health record data from nearly 229,000 patients, including 6,000 recipients of Ozempic.

The researchers called for clinical trials to evaluate the potential of the drug’s active ingredient, semaglutide, for use in smoking cessation in support of the findings of this study, sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health.

He noted that earlier reports have suggested a reduction in smoking urge in patients treated with semaglutide, possibly related to a reduction in the reward effects of addictive nicotine in the brain. This is also the active ingredient in Novo’s hugely popular weight loss drug Wegovy.

The current study did not include data on whether patients actually stopped or reduced tobacco use after starting the different medications.

The researchers acknowledged that although the observed reduction in tobacco disorder-related events could indicate a decrease in tobacco use or relapse, it “could also reflect other scenarios, such as a decreased willingness to seek help to quit smoking.”

Diabetes medications considered in the study included insulin, metformin, DPP-4 inhibitors, SGLT-2 inhibitors, sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, and GLP-1s other than Ozempic.