At least that's what Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
In the phase 2 trial, 68 smokers were divided into four groups. Three of the groups received different doses of NicVAX and the fourth got a placebo. Nabi reported that smokers who received the highest dose of NicVAX had a 33% quitting rate vs. 9% for the placebo.
That's an encouraging result, but at this time it has to be considered very preliminary. The sample size is just too small to draw definitive conclusions. Also, "data by press release" is almost always incomplete, as clinical trial data tends to be released in full at medical meetings. Investors will have to wait until next year for the release of all of the results of this study. One key piece of information to look for is the number of patients in each group that developed antibodies to nicotine and if that correlates with the patients who quit smoking. If NicVAX does indeed work, this correlation should be strong.
The smoking cessation market is competitive. If NicVAX makes it onto the market, it will have to compete with other products such as Nicorette and Zyban from GlaxoSmithKline
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Fool contributor Charly Travers doesn't own shares of any company mentioned in this article.
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