Cocaine vacccine under trials

Cocaine vaccine under research in U.S.

www.chinaview.cn 2008-01-02 09:22:30 Print
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/...ent_7351129.htm


BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Two researchers in U.S. are working on a cocaine vaccine which they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people addicted to cocaine, according to media reports Wednesday.

"For people who have a desire to stop using, the vaccine should be very useful," said Dr. Tom Kosten, a psychiatry professor from Baylor College of Medicine who is being assisted in the research by his wife, Therese, a psychologist and neuroscientist. "At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won't get high and will lose interest."

The vaccine, currently in clinical trials, stimulates the immune system to attack the real thing when it's taken.

The immune system is unable to recognize cocaine and other drug molecules because they are so small so it can't make antibodies to attack them. To help the immune system distinguish the drug, Kosten attached inactivated cocaine to the outside of inactivated cholera proteins.

In response, the immune system not only makes antibodies to the combination, which is harmless, but also recognizes the potent naked drug when it's ingested.

Kosten asked the Food and Drug Administration in December to green-light a multi-institutional trial to begin in the spring and is awaiting a response.

Approval would mark a breakthrough in the treatment of cocaine addiction, but one expert warns against expecting too much.

"Addiction vaccines are a promising advance, but it's unlikely any treatment in this field will work for everyone," said Dr. David Gorelick, a senior investigator at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

(Agencies)