Brazilian researchers are working on a vaccine that helps fight cocaine addiction.
- Brazilian researchers are working on a vaccine against cocaine addiction. They just got a prize.
- The vaccine, called Calixcoca, “helps addicted people produce antibodies that prevent the drug from acting on the brain.”
- However, researchers point out that this is not a miracle solution, but additional help to avoid relapses.
A therapeutic vaccine that helps fight cocaine addiction. This type of treatment could change the lives of millions of people dependent on psychotropic drugs. The project, called Calixcoca and carried by Brazilian researchers, won a prize of 500,000 euros from the pharmaceutical company Eurofarma intended to finance innovative solutions with “high impact” in the health sector.
Cocaine: a vaccine that blocks the reward circuit
Calixcoca is not a preventative vaccine, but a therapeutic one. That is to say, it does not prevent you from becoming addicted to cocaine, it helps patients trying to put an end to their addiction to quit.
Interviewed by AFP, psychiatrist Frederico Garcia, coordinator of this project led by the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)explained that the vaccine “helps addicted people produce antibodies that prevent the drug from acting on the brain”. These help block the reward circuit and the sensation of pleasure associated with taking cocaine. In the absence of this reaction, the risks of falling back into addiction are lower.
The first tests, carried out on animals, are promising. They showed that vaccinated subjects produced the desired antibodies. Furthermore, few side effects have been observed. The product was also effective on mouse fetuses. The researchers suggest that the product could thus help in the treatment of pregnant women suffering from addiction problems to cocaine or its derivatives, such as crack.
Calixcoca : an additional tool in the withdrawal arsenal
“If clinical tests show that it is effective, and if it is approved by the health regulator Anvisait will be the first anti-cocaine vaccine, and even anti-drug vaccine in the world used as medicine.specified Frederico Garcia to AFP, taken up by The Press.
However, the vaccine Calixcoca would not be a miracle solution. Above all, it would be an additional tool in the weaning process which is based on multidisciplinary strategies. For example, it could help avoid relapses after a stay in treatment. For the project manager, the injection would mainly be intended for patients “in abstinence who are determined to remain so”added the expert.