Thought this was somewhat interesting:
Cytos Anti-Smoking Vaccine Shows Promise in Study
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Cytos Biotechnology AG, an unprofitable Swiss biotechnology company, said its experimental vaccine to treat nicotine addiction helped smokers quit in a study.
The vaccine, called CYT002-NicQb, helped 40 percent of smokers given the vaccine abstain from smoking between eight and 24 weeks after starting treatment, according to a study of 341 patients presented today at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Florida. Thirty-one percent of smokers given a placebo were also able to quit.
The vaccine is designed to induce the production of antibodies against nicotine to block the entry of the toxic substance to the brain. This should eliminate the addictive and satisfying effects of nicotine that make it difficult for smokers to quit and remain abstinent in the first months after quitting.
``The vaccine approach has the potential to dramatically alter the way we will treat smoking addiction in the future,\'\' said Jacques Cornuz, who headed the Cytos vaccine study, in an e- mailed statement. ``The data clearly suggest that antibodies against nicotine are effective in helping people quit smoking.\'\'
Cytos may start selling the vaccine in 2010, Cytos Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Renner said in an interview.
Failed Primary Goal
Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie analysts estimate the treatment could generate $800 million in peak sales and would compete against GlaxoSmithKline Plc\'s Zyban drug and Sanofi- Aventis SA\'s experimental treatment Acomplia.
The global market for smoking cessation treatments was valued at $1.2 billion in 2003.
Cytos set out to prove that its experimental immunization works better than existing therapies such as patches and gums, which work only about 15 percent better than placebo. The Phase II study failed to meet its primary goal and showed just a 9 percent difference.
Still, in a group of patients with high antibody levels who were given the vaccine, 57 percent were able to quit. Cytos spokeswoman Claudine Blaser said the company will conduct more studies of the vaccine using a higher dose in healthy non-smokers next year in an effort to reach that 57 percent rate.
Shares May Rise
The study, conducted in Switzerland, included 341 healthy male and female smokers between the ages of 18 and 70 who smoked between 10 and 40 cigarettes a day for at least three years and were motivated to quit. That motivation may explain why 31 percent of patients who received a placebo were able to quit, Blaser said.
CYT002-NicQb is the first treatment for Cytos to complete the second of three sets of testing generally required for regulatory approval. In 2002, the Schlieren, Switzerland-based company took over the listed shell of a century-old health-care company.
Cytos shares rose 5.7 Swiss francs, or 12 percent to 52.5 francs on Friday in Zurich trading. They\'ve risen 31 percent this year.
The results should trigger a ``sharp\'\' reaction in the shares of Cytos when they trade next on May 17, according to analysts Bob Pooler and Karl Heinz Koch at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie. They said a positive result could boost their share target by 58 percent to 76 francs.
1.3 Billion Smokers
Smoking is linked to heart disease and cancer. More than 1.3 billion people worldwide smoke, and tobacco kills 5 million a year now and as many as 10 million by 2020, according to the World Health Organization. About 70 percent of adult smokers in the U.S. wanted to quit in 2000 and only 4.7 percent were able to abstain from smoking for three to 12 months, the National Health Interview Survey found.
The main reason stopping smoking is so difficult is the feeling of pleasure nicotine induces. The substance travels through the blood to the brain where it binds to receptors, releasing neurotransmitters that trigger these emotions.
In a pre-clinical trial of Nicotine-Qbeta, or CYT002-NicQb, some of the nicotine still penetrated the brains of vaccinated mice. Cytos is measuring cotinine, a long-lasting substance produced when the body breaks down nicotine, to determine the vaccine\'s effectiveness.
``A similar pattern of residual nicotine reaching the brain might also occur in man,\'\' said Olav Zilian, an analyst at Helvea, in a research note ahead of the announcement. ``Hence our skepticism about the chance for success of the anti-nicotine vaccination trial.\'\'
(Cytos will Web cast a presentation of the study results on May 17 at 2 p.m. Swiss time at http://www.cytos.com )
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aPFnbvswh_10&refer=top_world_news
