The US study of 301 long-time smokers found that about 15 percent of those who received NicVAX stopped smoking after one year, compared to about six percent of volunteers who received a placebo.
The results are comparable to some currently available smoking-cessation aids. But the vaccine - designed to prevent nicotine from reaching the brain - takes a different approach than gums, lozenges, patches, and nasal sprays designed to help smokers quit.
"It clearly shows promise," and warrants further study, said Dr Frank Vocci, director of medications development at the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has helped fund the vaccine's development, the AP reported.
Some experts were unimpressed with the study results.
"I'm a little underwhelmed," Dr Timothy Gardner, an AHA spokesman and cardiologist at Christiana Care Health System in Delaware, told the AP. " I would think we could expect better," he said. – (HealthDayNews)
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