Researchers may be on the verge of developing a vaccine that will help smokers kick their nasty habit. Nicotine — perhaps the most addictive substance on the planet — was neutralized by a special virus in the Swiss study. The scientific name for the vaccine is Finano Licensia, Latin for “A License to Print Money.” You won’t find that tidbit in this report from Forbes.com:
An experimental anti-nicotine vaccine has shown encouraging results in helping smokers kick the habit, according to a study presented to a major conference of cancer specialists here.
Almost 60 percent of the 341 smokers who took the vaccine stopped smoking for at least six months, said Jacques Cornuz, a Swiss researcher who led the vaccine study.
Cornuz, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois in Lausanne, Switzerland, said about a third of those who developed lower levels of antibodies stopped smoking, about the same fraction as those who received a placebo vaccine.
The vaccine, developed by Cytos Biotechnology of Zurich, is based on a bacteriophage virus which attacks bacteria. The bacteriophage in the vaccine neutralises the nicotine before it can stimulate the brain, according to Cornuz.
Cytos Biotechnology now hopes to carry out more widespread medical studies to show the vaccine is safe and hopes to bring it on the market around 2010.
