There are a lot of drugs that hit the same receptor sites as alcohol, the benzos and all of those. They all have very bad withdrawal profiles. If he really invented something that works in a different way he would become a very wealthy man. Could be a lot more media hype than reality to the story tho.
I didn't read all the articles but I wonder if this would be over the counter or prescription. Would a lot of Doctors be open to prescribing a "Drunk Pill". I guess we will have to wait and see what the whole story really is.