GLP-1 Event and what CASPR has been working on

We've been very, very, very busy!

I always feel like I’m falling behind on posting updates about what our organization, CASPR, has been up to. Recursive Adaptation is just one element of our work. I think my desire to give a complete update has been getting in the way. But we have an event coming up that I want let everyone know about, so that’s the nudge I need to ignore completeness and get a few things out there:

1. I’ll be speaking at The Harm Reduction Promise of GLP-1s, January 24th at noon, hosted by CATO in Washington, DC. The event is free to attend and will also be streamed online— you can register at the link above. Dr. Jeff Singer is organizing the program, he shares our excitement about GLP-1s for craving reduction and has been making the case that GLP-1s should be available over the counter. I wrote about Jeff’s work previously and how non-abstinence based treatment can unite us around restoring people’s agency.

2. CASPR is working to launch new studies / trials on GLP-1s for addiction with several partners. We’ll be posting more about specific trials soon, in addition to the VA study that we recently announced. Among these efforts, we are working with two organizations, one in Pittsburgh and one in Providence, to run longer-term studies with high risk individuals and post-incarceration populations, and tracking the broader impact on their lives, including their risk of rearrest and incarceration. I believe that because GLP-1s reduce polysubstance consumption and improve mental health, they will create tremendous positive impact on incarceration, crime rates, and other social costs. This will be groundbreaking research.

3. We recently received a planning grant from Arnold Ventures to pursue a Phase 3 trial of a GLP-1 for AUD and / or OUD in an effort to achieve an FDA indication, which would be a major accomplishment for global public health. This is our top priority as an organization and we will need all the support and allies we can bring together to make this happen.

4. We’ve been talking to Congressional offices and leadership at the FDA about modernizing the FDA qualified endpoints for substance use disorder indications, building on our proposal from the Innovation Agenda for Addiction. If this is a particular passion of yours, please reach out! I’d like to bring together some specific recommendations across various indications— we have good clarity for AUD via NIAAA, but would love more input on the others.

5. We’re also doing a lot of outreach in D.C. to advance our proposal (also from the Agenda) to expand the Priority Review Voucher (PRV) program to cover addiction indications. If you are connected with advocates and policymakers who may be interested in moving legislation forward, please get in touch, we have a budding coalition coming together and are getting momentum here.

6. My cofounder Lindsay Holden and I are delighted to welcome Lucia Simpson to CASPR and Lucia is excited to join us!

7. Recursive Adaptation now has over 6,000 subscribers (6,192), which I believe makes us one of the largest publications in the field of addiction. Thanks for reading and sharing our work. 💜

Finally, I want to thank the surprising number of folks who have reached out spontaneously to give both small and very substantial contributions to CASPR, before we even asked. Someday, we’ll have time to post a proper donation pitch, but instead I’ll give you a quick version:

CASPR is different from any other organization in the world of addiction. Lindsay and I both have startup backgrounds and both came to this work because of people close to us who have struggled for decades. We run CASPR more like an ambitious startup than a typical non-profit.

If you are frustrated with the lack of high-efficacy options for addiction treatment, if you want the field to move more quickly, if you think we can achieve huge breakthroughs in health and society by reducing the harms from addiction, if you want innovative clinical trials to be pursued, then you think like us. We are here to help solve, permanently, the centuries old scourge of addiction and we are confident that this is possible. If you’d like to join our effort with a contribution, please get in touch or donate at CASPR.org. We will make it count. Thank you!!