Re: 2006 Predictions

The phase II study, which will involve about 10 centers around the country, will evaluate whether a nicotine vaccine made by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals is effective in helping smokers quit, as well as determine the appropriate vaccine dosage. The Nabi study is funded in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The nicotine vaccine works in part by reducing the pleasurable effects of smoking and also by reducing withdrawal symptoms, said Stephen Rennard, M.D., Larson Professor of Medicine, UNMC Pulmonary and Critical Care Section, and principal investigator of the UNMC study.

Like vaccines that prevent disease, the nicotine vaccine generates antibodies in the body that attach to nicotine molecules, making them larger and more difficult to get into the brain. It is thought the vaccine blocks the pleasurable effects of smoking as well as the withdrawal symptoms.

UNMC has been involved in previous successful phases of the Nabi vaccine development study. The previous phase II study evaluated whether smokers produced antibodies against nicotine.

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