AB CURE FOR DRUG ADDICTS...Daily Record in U.K.
Nov 19 2004
Scots doctor's technique blocks out cocaine 'high'
By Judith Duffy
A SCOTS scientist is leading the race to create the world's first vaccine to beat cocaine addiction.
Dr Campbell Bunce has developed a jab which can block out the 'high' that users get from the drug.
Trials on the jab are being carried out in America and it could be made available to the public here if the tests prove successful.
Dr Bunce, 34, who is originally from Glasgow, believes it may also pave the way for the development of vaccines for other addictive drugs, including nicotine, ecstasy and heroin.
He said: 'This has huge implications. If successful, we could make cocaine addiction a thing of the past.'
The vaccine operates by generating antibodies that neutralise cocaine's effects.
The antibodies fight off cocaine before it can reach the brain - as though the drug was an infection.
The antibodies continue to work for up to six months after the injection.
Dr Bunce, project leader at Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company Xenova, said the vaccine could be available over the counter within years.
He said: 'We are using the strategy to develop a vaccine for nicotine and that's going very well in the clinic at the moment.'
A small-scale trial carried out earlier this year on 22 cocaine users found the vaccine was effective.
Xenova are now launching large-scale clinical trials in the US.
The results of these trials will not be known until 2006.
Dr Bunce said: 'We had very few drop-outs in the first study and those that took part remained abstinent throughout, which is unusual.
'At the moment,we are the only company in the world that is advancing a cocaine vaccine.
'Cocaine is a leading cause of crime in the US.
'And cocaine users are normally off work more than non-users, or they lose their job as a result, so it has economic implications as well.'
Dr Kishor Gonsai, one of the doctors in charge of the first study, said: 'One patient had spent $15,000 (£9,000) on cocaine in two months.
'His response to the vaccine was that it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.'
Cocaine expert Bridget Martell, of Yale University, said the results of the initial tests were positive.
She said: 'Cocaine-dependent users have a serious need for assistance with achieving and maintaining abstinence.
'A number of addicts receiving the TA-CD vaccine were able to remain abstinent during the study.'
Xenova also claim the vaccine could be used in a preventative measure to stop people getting hooked in the first place.
Dr Bunce added: 'There is the possibility that we could use the vaccine in adolescents as a preventative for them becoming addicted to cocaine.'
HOW THE VACCINE WORKS
THE body does not launch an immune response to the cocaine molecule and, because it is small, the drug can sneak past the brain's defence system.
The vaccine consists of a cocaine derivative and a deactivated cholera toxin which bind onto the drug, making it too big to get into the brain.
This stops the 'high' that addicts experience when they normally take cocaine.
The vaccine does not stop the craving addicts have for the drug so they would need counselling to help them get over it. |
