A drug that aims to keep smokers from developing an addiction to nicotine by eliminating the good feeling they get from cigarettes is being tested in Annapolis.
The city is one of 20 sites testing NicVAX, a vaccine that produces antibodies that could keep smokers away from cigarettes for one year. Researchers from Community Clinical Research in Annapolis are giving the vaccine to area smokers, in addition to counseling, and noting their reactions.
Rockville-based Nabi Biopharmaceuticals produces NicVAX, which is now in its third phase of testing. Each of the 20 sites is aiming to get 50 people to use the drug to study how it affects their desire to smoke. This is the last test before federal approval is sought, said Dr. Henrik Rasmussen, a cardiologist working on the study.
“Despite everybody knowing it’s dangerous and can kill you if you smoke the rest of your life, 25 percent of the adult population is still smoking,” said Rasmussen, who is also president and chief executive officer of Texas-based Community Clinical Research. “Nicotine is more addictive than heroin, (but) people think that if you can’t stop smoking you have a weak character.”
The county Health Department’s 2007 behavioral health survey found that about 17 percent of Anne Arundel County’s adult population smokes. Each year, the department had been providing programing grants ranging from $3,000 to $9,000 to offer smoking cessation programs.
But the department had to cut $600,000 from its budget last year, and reduced those classes and activities in the process.
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