Anti-Cocaine Vaccine Passes Animal Test: Could Prevent Drug From Reaching The Brain

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City are close to finding a solution to cocaine addiction with their new anti-cocaine vaccine that has already been successfully used on primates.

Cocaine addiction is the cause of millions of deaths across the globe and American scientists have been working for a while now to find a cure. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City may have finally found the solution as their new anti-cocaine vaccine passed the test on primates. The test showed that after vaccination and treatment, the drug is unable to reach the brain, according to a report in Science Daily.

"The vaccine eats up the cocaine in the blood like a little Pac-man before it can reach the brain... 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. Even if a person who receives the anti-cocaine vaccine falls off the wagon, cocaine will have no effect," said the study's lead investigator, Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, chairman of the Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

The first set of experiments was carried out on mice.

The vaccine is a mix of flu virus with molecules that replicate the physical structure of cocaine. When this flu virus is injected into the body, the immune system fights it along with the cocaine molecules by creating antibodies. These antibodies remain in the blood and stick to cocaine molecules preventing them from crossing the blood brain barrier and making people high.

Scientists plan to start human testing later this year.

"This is a direct demonstration in a large animal, using nuclear medicine technology, that we can reduce the amount of cocaine that reaches the brain sufficiently so that it is below the threshold by which you get the high... an anti-cocaine vaccination will require booster shots in humans, but we don't know yet how often these booster shots will be needed. I believe that for those people who desperately want to break their addiction, a series of vaccinations will help," said Dr. Crystal.

The study is published online in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.