Nicotine Vaccine Set to Enter Phase III Trial

Friday November 13, 2009

Imagine being able to get a vaccine that would immunize you against nicotine addiction. After receiving a series of shots that encourage your body to build antibodies to nicotine, the vaccine would render the drug non-addictive. Imagine that.

While it may seem far fetched, such a vaccine is under current development by researchers at NABI Biopharmaceuticals. The goal of the nicotine vaccine, called NicVAX® (Nicotine Conjugate Vaccine) is twofold: to help people quit using tobacco and to eliminate the threat of a relapse by helping the body produce antibodies to nicotine.

Thanks to a $10-million grant just awarded them by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes on Health, NABI is now preparing to send NicVAX into its first phase III trial, an important step toward the final approval it needs from the Food and Drug Administration.

How The Nicotine Vaccine Works

Nicotine molecules are tiny and move easily through the blood-brain barrier, where they bind with nicotine receptors that activate the same reward pathways in the brain that other drugs of abuse such as cocaine or amphetamines do, although to a lesser degree. Research has shown that nicotine increases the level of dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of pleasure and well-being...and dependence.

When NicVAX enters the bloodstream via a shot in the arm, it helps the body's immune system generate antibodies to nicotine. Once this happens, these antibodies "capture" nicotine molecules by binding with them. And because the antibodies are too large to breach the blood/brain barrier, nicotine is unable to travel on to the brain where it can cause addiction.

"Nicotine addiction causes nearly a half million deaths annually in the United States alone. Finding effective treatments that can help people stay off cigarettes has been a real challenge," said NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins. "This Phase III trial of a nicotine vaccine offers tremendous hope towards solving this immense public health problem."

Federal Stimulus Grant Supports Crucial Study of Anti-Nicotine Vaccine -- NIH News

The nicotine vaccine, once approved, will be a valuable addition to the variety of quit aids available today. With a human life being lost to tobacco-related disease every 8 seconds somewhere on the planet, smokers need as many choices as possible to help them beat nicotine addiction before it beats them.

Quit Help: