Minneapolis Star Tribune, (12/17/99) A vaccine to stop smoking? HCMC study shows promise., Maura Lerner/Star Tribune

Scientists at the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis report today that they have devised a vaccine that blocks nicotine from entering the brain, and say it could eventually be used by smokers who want to quit.

Dr. Paul Pentel, director of the Tobacco Dependence Clinic at HCMC said, "The idea is a relatively simple one. Nicotine acts in the brain to produce addiction. So if it were possible to keep nicotine from getting to the brain, it ought to be possible to reduce the addictiveness of nicotine."

The experimental vaccine, known as NicVax, has only been tested in laboratory rats, but a government-sponsored study shows it reduced the amount of nicotine from entering the brain by almost two-thirds.

This suggests that "vaccinated persons would not be able to get a 'kick' from the nicotine in tobacco smoke or chewing tobacco," said Dr. Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded the study.

Testing of the nicotine vaccine in humans is scheduled to begin in early 2002, according to the Institute.