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Health

Experimental medication helps treat cocaine addiction

A recently developed medication encourages people with cocaine use disorder to reduce their intake of the stimulant – a step towards the first approved drugs to treat the problem

By Grace Wade

7 April 2025

Cocaine drug crystals.

Crystals of cocaine viewed through a microscope

ASTRID & HANNS-FRIEDER MICHLER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

An experimental medication targeting reward pathways in the brain helps people addicted to cocaine reduce their drug use – and could treat other substance use disorders, too.

Medications are available to treat alcoholism and opioid use disorder, but none are approved for addictions to stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine. These drugs contribute to roughly half of all in the US. “So this is a giant unmet medical need,” says , founder of Tempero Bio, a California-based pharmaceutical company.

Drugs like cocaine are highly addictive because…

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