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Page last updated: 12 January 2003
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Reuters Health
By Andrew Conaway
Friday, January 10, 2003
AMSTERDAM (Reuters Health) - The University of Maastricht announced Friday that it will begin a two-year study of Nabi Biopharmaceutical's anti-smoking vaccine, NicVAX, in the Netherlands.
The vaccine, which is injected, is derived from nicotine itself. Initial clinical trials of the product began in 2002.
The Phase I study, to be done at the university's ExTra Research Institute in partnership with the US-based biopharmaceutical company, will involve 21 Dutch smokers and nine non-smokers. Phase I trials are the most preliminary of studies in humans, and are designed to determine if a drug is safe for use in people. Later and larger studies are used to determine if a product actually works as intended.
Initial trials of the vaccine have been conducted in non-smokers in the US.
It is hoped that NicVAX will stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that will bind to nicotine and stop it from crossing the blood/brain barrier. Once nicotine crosses the barrier into the brain, it stimulates the production of certain neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, which in turn generate positive sensations for the user.
"In terms of time to market, we are talking years," Nabi's Chairman and CEO David Gury said in an interview with Reuters Heath, "However, we feel that this product has potential for tremendous public, as well as humanitarian impact, on a product that microgram for microgram is very much more addictive than cocaine."
This is not the first anti-smoking vaccine to be developed. Last year British biotechnology firm Xenova successfully completed early trials of its TA-NIC vaccine, but that is also not expected to come to market for another several years.
According to the World Health Organization, the Netherlands has one of the highest percentage rates of smoking in the EU, with more than 30% of the country's population engaged in the habit.
The researcher leading the study, Professor Dr. O. Van Schayk, was traveling and unavailable for comment.
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