NicVAX

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are very few or no other articles that link to this one.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. After links have been created, remove this message.
This article has been tagged since November 2006.

This article is uncategorized.
Please help improve this article by adding it to one or more categories, in addition to a stub category. (how?) Please remove this tag after categorizing. This article has been tagged since November 2006.

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since December 2006.

This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter.
Please help improve this article by providing context for a general audience, especially in the lead section. This article has been tagged since November 2006. (help, talk)

NicVAX is an anti-nicotine addiction vaccine currently under development by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals. Funding for research on NicVAX is supplemented by grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Phase I of testing of NicVAX has been completed. The purpose of Phase I was to test the safety of NicVAX and not to determine the effectiveness of the drug in halting nicotine addiction. Despite this, test subjects who had no plans to quit smoking had quit as a result of their participation in the testing.

As of September 1, 2006 Phase 2 testing is under way at nine universities in the United States.

The vaccine works by conditioning the subject's immune system to recognize nicotine molecules as invasive entities, prompting the immune system to generate antibodies that merge themselves to the nicotine molecules. The resultant molecules are too large to pass from the bloodstream into the brain, thereby denying nicotine its psychotropic effect.