14 DAY TRIAL // Cocaine is deadlier than many viruses. And it surely destroys more lives. So, why not a vaccine against it? This is the aim of a couple of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston: the first-ever medication against cocaine addiction.
"For people who have a desire to stop using, the vaccine should be very useful. At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won't get high and will lose interest." said Dr. Tom Kosten, a psychiatry professor who is carrying out the study together with his wife, Therese, a psychologist and neuroscientist.
The clinical trials made with the vaccine are attempting to make the immune system attack the drug when consumed. Our immune system cannot detect cocaine and other drugs because their molecules are too small, so that they can't synthesize antibodies against them.
To remove this inconvenience, the team attached inactivated cocaine on inactivated cholera proteins. This way, the immune system synthesizes antibodies that are not active just against this mix, which is non-toxic, but also against cocaine consumed alone. The antibodies attach to the cocaine and impede it from attacking the brain, which causes the highs and the powerful addiction.
"Scientists have spent the last few decades figuring out reward pathways in the brain and how drugs like cocaine hijack the system. It turns out those pathways are difficult to rewire once they've seen the drug. But the vaccine just circumvents all that." said David Eagleman, a Baylor neuroscientist.
A multi-institutional trial could start in the spring, the last step before launching the vaccine, after 10 years of research. By now, cocaine addiction is treated through psychiatric counseling and 12-step programs.
Still, some warn that the vaccine could not be 100 % effective.
"Addiction vaccines are a promising advance, but it's unlikely any treatment in this field will work for everyone. Still, if they prove successful, they will give those working in drug addiction an important option." said Dr. David Gorelick, a senior investigator at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.