Anti-smoking vaccine trialled

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_586469.html

Anti-smoking vaccine trialled

The first set of trials for an anti-smoking jab are coming to an end.

The vaccine causes the body to form antibodies against nicotine.

If it is successful a course of five injections could be enough to help a smoker quit.

British firm Xenova is reported to be the first company to have begun tests on an anti-smoking vaccine.

The treatment could be available within five years if clinical trials prove successful.

The Daily Express reports that a US company, Nabi, is also developing a vaccine which works in the same way.

But Dr John St Claire Roberts, the medical director of Xenova, is cautious and warned: "The trial is about the safety, not the effectiveness, of the treatment and sometimes hype can conceal just how far there is to go."

Story filed: 08:50 Monday 13th May 2002

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