Anti-Cocaine Vaccine Blocks Effects Of The Drug: A Study

A novel anti-cocaine vaccine successfully passed testing in primates, according to a study published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, bringing its designers one step closer to human trials.

The study used a radiological technique in order to prove that the vaccine prevents the drug from reaching the brain and triggering the subsequent dopamine-induced high caused by cocaine.

“The vaccine eats up the cocaine in the blood like a little Pac-man before it can reach the brain,” Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, the study’s lead investigator and the chairman of the Department of Generic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, said in a press release.

The result, Crystal said, is an entire erasing of the drug’s effects.

“We believe this strategy is a win-win for those individuals, among the estimated 1.4 million cocaine users in the United States, who are committed to breaking their addiction to the drug,” the researcher said.

Crystal and his colleagues developed the vaccine by combining parts of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics the structure of cocaine. Thus, when the vaccine is injected, the body perceives the cold virus and attacks both it and the cocaine impersonator hooked to it.

As a result, the immune system learns to see cocaine as an intruder and proceeds to produce antibodies to fight against it.

Ultimately, Crystal projects that the vaccine, despite being highly effective, will not be a one-time event for individuals looking to kick the habit.

“An anti-cocaine vaccination will require booster shots in humans, but we don’t know yet how often these booster shots will be needed,” he said. “I believe that for those people who desperately want to break their addiction, a series of vaccinations will help.”

Crystal estimates that he and his colleagues will begin human testing of the vaccine within a year.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.