Researchers are close to developing a vaccination for persons addicted to cocaine, nicotine and heroin, helping them to repress cravings and eventually overcome their addiction.

Funded by The National Institute on Drug Abuse, researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and the Scripps Research Institute in California injected billions of specially made viral cocktails into non-genetically engineered laboratory mice. By identifying the strong immune response generated against the vaccine, the researchers developed a new antibody that when put in test tubes, destroys the cocaine’s ability to circulate throughout the system and eventually reach the brain’s pleasure center.

According to Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, chairman and professor of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College: “The human immune system doesn’t naturally tag cocaine as something to be destroyed, just like all small-molecule drugs are not eliminated by antibodies. We have engineered this response so that it is against the cocaine mimic. Our very dramatic data shows that we can protect mice against the effects of cocaine, and we think this approach could be very promising in fighting addiction in humans.”

The complete report appears in the January 4, 2011 edition of Molecular Therapy. The study also evaluated the vaccine’s effect on behavior. After the vaccination, mice were much less hyperactive while on cocaine.  Similar to the response in a laboratory animal, the cocaine-dependent human will use the drug until the he or she is exhausted, or the supply is gone.

Dr. Crystal further explained: “While other attempts at producing immunity against cocaine have been tried, this is the first that will likely not require multiple, expensive infusions, and that can move quickly into human trials. There is currently no FDA-approved vaccine for any drug addiction. An approach that works is desperately needed for cocaine addiction, which is an intransigent problem worldwide. There are no therapies now.”