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First smoking vaccine is being tested
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College Park (Map, News) - At the University of Maryland, College Park, about 35 smokers are trying to liberate themselves from nicotine by reducing the buzz it gives them, testing a “quit smoking” vaccine.
Forty percent of participants have quit so far during the ongoing study using the vaccine, NicVAX, and 9 percent quit on a placebo in preliminary studies, the largest differential ever, according to Tom Rathjem, vice president of investor relations for Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, the furthest along of three companies developing the revolutionary vaccine.
“Smoking is a massive problem,” said Rathjem. “It destroys lives.”
Smoking kills more than 400,000 people and has medical costs of more than $75 billion every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Relapse is a massive problem, and four shots in two months will protect an ex-smoker for more than a year, preventing 70 percent of relapses, Rathjem said.
“When you get a normal vaccine, you create antibodies to fight the disease,” said Elbert Glover, director of the Center for Health Behavior Research conducting the study. “This one bonds with nicotine [making it too big to enter the brain] and you don’t get that good feeling. So essentially, there’s no reason to continue using it.”
Less than 5 percent of smokers successfully quit using devices currently on the market, said Kari Appler, director of Smoke Free Maryland in Baltimore.
“If [vaccines] are proven to be successful, it’d be a great tool to help people quit smoking,” Appler said.
The vaccine is probably two to five years from being on the market, Glover said.
The Food and Drug Administration is working with Nabi Biopharmaceuticals to make the vaccine available as soon as possible, Rathjem said.
“It demonstrates the fact that the FDA realizes there is a huge need out there,” he said. “They like what they see so far.”
Testing began two weeks ago, and Glover said he could not tell if the vaccine will be more effective than other remedies.
“None of them are the magic bullet,” said Glover, who has more than 20 years experience with clinical trials. “We’re not at that point yet. We’re just systematically improving things.”
msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com
