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Nicotine vaccine trials 'exciting'
May 15, 2005 - 11:09AM
The results of a major trial of a new nicotine vaccine that could help people stop smoking have been welcomed as "very exciting".
The vaccine - codenamed CYT002-NicQb - works by binding the nicotine with antibodies in the blood to prevent the drug passing into the brain.
By stopping the nicotine reaching the brain, the vaccine prevents the "high" that is normally produced and makes smoking so addictive.
Professor Jacques Cornuz, the principal investigator in the trial, revealed the trial results during the second day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Orlando, Florida yesterday.
"I am very excited about the outcome of this study," he said.
"The data clearly suggest that antibodies against nicotine are effective in helping people quit smoking.
"I believe that the vaccine approach has the potential to dramatically alter the way how we will treat smoking addiction in the future."
Swiss company Cytos Biotechnology completed the second phase of testing its vaccine, carrying out a four-month study on 341 smokers in Switzerland.
It gave two thirds of the men and women aged between 18 and 70, who had smoked between 10 and 40 cigarettes a day for at least three years, the vaccine once a month.
The remaining third received a placebo and all were closely observed.
All those given the vaccine created anti-nicotine antibodies and the levels in their bloodstream were divided into three groups - high, medium and low.
The results showed that 57 per cent of those in the high antibody category refrained from smoking completely throughout the trial, compared with 32 per cent of those in the medium and low categories.
Out of those who were given the placebo, 31 per cent abstained from smoking.
Dr Wolfgang Renner, from Cytos, said: "We are extremely pleased about the results as the data in the high responder group are better than anything we have seen so far.
"The clear correlation between antibody levels and clinical effect greatly supports us in the further development of this vaccine."
Renner said the next stage was to increase the vaccine dosage and the number of injections given to ensure more antibodies were created to prevent nicotine reaching the brain.
"The data shows elegantly that we can use the body's own defence, the immune system, to modulate even such complex conditions like addiction," he said.
He said similar vaccine techniques were being considered for diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity and Alzheimer's.
Side-effects included flu-like symptoms on the day of injection as well as redness and swelling where the injection was given - usually in the arm.
But all these effects subsided by the end of the day, according to Renner.
He said a much bigger phase three trial with higher dosages would take place in 2007 - one in America and the other in Europe.
If successful, he hopes the vaccine will be approved by the various health authorities in 2008 and could even be on the market by 2010.
Approximately 1.3 billion people smoke across the globe and there are five million tobacco-related deaths each year, according to figures from the World Health Organisation.
Smoking - of which nicotine is the major addictive component - accounts for 30 per cent of all cancer deaths and 87 per cent of deaths from lung cancer.
In Australia, more than three million people smoke and the habit kills about 19,000 annually.
Two other companies are also working on a nicotine vaccine - the British-based Xenova and an American company called Nabi Biopharmaceuticals.
Dr Campbell Bunce, project leader for the Xenova trials, said it was unlikely the vaccine would stop the withdrawal symptoms or the cravings, but used in conjunction with other anti-smoking measures - such as nicotine patches - could prove effective.
He said Cytos's results would be good for everyone trying to develop the vaccine.
"All of the vaccines are trying to achieve the same thing - to help people give up smoking," he said.
"Using vaccine for addiction is certainly starting to prove very positive."
- PA
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Nicotine-vaccine-trials-exciting/2005/05/15/1116095842358.html
May 15, 2005 - 11:09AM
The results of a major trial of a new nicotine vaccine that could help people stop smoking have been welcomed as "very exciting".
The vaccine - codenamed CYT002-NicQb - works by binding the nicotine with antibodies in the blood to prevent the drug passing into the brain.
By stopping the nicotine reaching the brain, the vaccine prevents the "high" that is normally produced and makes smoking so addictive.
Professor Jacques Cornuz, the principal investigator in the trial, revealed the trial results during the second day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Orlando, Florida yesterday.
"I am very excited about the outcome of this study," he said.
"The data clearly suggest that antibodies against nicotine are effective in helping people quit smoking.
"I believe that the vaccine approach has the potential to dramatically alter the way how we will treat smoking addiction in the future."
Swiss company Cytos Biotechnology completed the second phase of testing its vaccine, carrying out a four-month study on 341 smokers in Switzerland.
It gave two thirds of the men and women aged between 18 and 70, who had smoked between 10 and 40 cigarettes a day for at least three years, the vaccine once a month.
The remaining third received a placebo and all were closely observed.
All those given the vaccine created anti-nicotine antibodies and the levels in their bloodstream were divided into three groups - high, medium and low.
The results showed that 57 per cent of those in the high antibody category refrained from smoking completely throughout the trial, compared with 32 per cent of those in the medium and low categories.
Out of those who were given the placebo, 31 per cent abstained from smoking.
Dr Wolfgang Renner, from Cytos, said: "We are extremely pleased about the results as the data in the high responder group are better than anything we have seen so far.
"The clear correlation between antibody levels and clinical effect greatly supports us in the further development of this vaccine."
Renner said the next stage was to increase the vaccine dosage and the number of injections given to ensure more antibodies were created to prevent nicotine reaching the brain.
"The data shows elegantly that we can use the body's own defence, the immune system, to modulate even such complex conditions like addiction," he said.
He said similar vaccine techniques were being considered for diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity and Alzheimer's.
Side-effects included flu-like symptoms on the day of injection as well as redness and swelling where the injection was given - usually in the arm.
But all these effects subsided by the end of the day, according to Renner.
He said a much bigger phase three trial with higher dosages would take place in 2007 - one in America and the other in Europe.
If successful, he hopes the vaccine will be approved by the various health authorities in 2008 and could even be on the market by 2010.
Approximately 1.3 billion people smoke across the globe and there are five million tobacco-related deaths each year, according to figures from the World Health Organisation.
Smoking - of which nicotine is the major addictive component - accounts for 30 per cent of all cancer deaths and 87 per cent of deaths from lung cancer.
In Australia, more than three million people smoke and the habit kills about 19,000 annually.
Two other companies are also working on a nicotine vaccine - the British-based Xenova and an American company called Nabi Biopharmaceuticals.
Dr Campbell Bunce, project leader for the Xenova trials, said it was unlikely the vaccine would stop the withdrawal symptoms or the cravings, but used in conjunction with other anti-smoking measures - such as nicotine patches - could prove effective.
He said Cytos's results would be good for everyone trying to develop the vaccine.
"All of the vaccines are trying to achieve the same thing - to help people give up smoking," he said.
"Using vaccine for addiction is certainly starting to prove very positive."
- PA
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Nicotine-vaccine-trials-exciting/2005/05/15/1116095842358.html
