New clinical studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association back up Pfizer's claims for the smoking cessation drug varenicline, which will hit the market as Chantix next month. The studies cover the results for 2,000 volunteers and found that 44 percent of the people taking Chantix continued to abstain from smoking after 12 weeks of therapy compared to 30 percent for subjects taking Zyban and 17 percent who took a placebo. Those results will give Chantix considerable help in its battle for market share, but researchers also note that there is still no drug that is effective for a majority of smokers. In a companion editorial, Robert Klesges of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, also noted that many of the people who took part in the study dropped out after experiencing adverse events. Chantix works by generating dopamine, a reward chemical that reduces the craving for tobacco. The market for these products is huge, with four out of 10 smokers trying to kick the habit every year.
- here's the report [1] on Chantix from the Chicago Tribune
PLUS: The New York Times examines the quest to find a vaccine that will block the addictive sensations of nicotine. Article [2]
Links:
[1] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0607050188jul05,1,4144828.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health/04vacc.html