Nabi develops anti-smoking vaccine

16 November, 2007

A vaccine that helps smokers kick the habit has been developed by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, a company that develops products to treat nicotine addiction.

The vaccine, which was tested in two stages of trials, works by blunting the effects of nicotine, according to researchers in the United States.

The company had enrolled 301 people in the second phase of the trials.

A statement from Nabi Biopharmaceuticals said 16% of volunteers vaccinated with the highest dose were able to quit smoking for 12 months, compared with 6% of those who were given a placebo.

In all, 14% of who got a lower dose of the vaccine, called NicVax, stopped smoking for at least a year, compared with 6% on the placebo, according to Dr Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the United States. Those who were unable to quit the habit smoked fewer cigarettes, he said.

The vaccine NicVax is designed stop nicotine from entering the brain, where it would trigger the release of dopamine, a stimulant that plays a role in making the effect of nicotine pleasurable and addictive.

Patients who produced the most anti-nicotine antibodies, Dr Stephen Rennard said, were also the ones most likely to stop smoking for longer. Even if they did not quit, they smoked less – 10 cigarettes on an average a day, compared with 20 before they were vaccinated.

“This development is key for the field of smoking cessation research and could have a significant impact on how we treat patients with nicotine addiction,” Dr Rennard said in his paper presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, the United States.

Drug companies are required to complete late-stage trials that show positive results before submitting their products to government regulators for approval.

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has said it is now seeking a larger pharmaceutical partner to help it fund the final stage of clinical tests in order to get the vaccine ready to be submitted for regulatory approval and eventually to the market.

The company had announced its plans earlier in 2007 to sell its headquarters and operations Boca Raton, Florida, the United States, and move to Rockville.

In Rockville, Nabi Biopharmaceuticals will concentrate on developing NicVax, which it considers as its key product.