The New War on Drugs: Vaccinations?
Ask yourself, when your child grows up, do you want him to be a cocaine addict? What if there was something you could do to prevent it? What if it was as easy as protecting your child against tetanus or the mumps? We may not be far away from the first vaccine to fight against cocaine. According to their website, Celtic Pharmaceuticals plans to submit their cocaine vaccine, TA-CD, for marketing approval in the US or EU in 2010.
TA-CD essentially works just like vaccines that are used to fight traditional diseases (such as tetanus or the mumps). It gets the body to recognize cocaine as an invader and uses the body’s immune system to prevent the cocaine from doing what it normally does: get the user high.
As we know, the body doesn’t normally treat cocaine as a harmful trespasser, so TA-CD pairs deactivated cocaine molecules (norcocaine) with deactivated cholera toxin molecules. The body recognizes cholera as an enemy, and since it is paired with cocaine molecules, the body builds anti-bodies to fight both foreign substances. The anti-bodies bind to the cocaine molecules, and the resulting bound molecules become too large to enter the user’s brain. As a result, the patient does not feel the high associated with cocaine use. In other words, the patient builds immunity to cocaine.
Celtic reports that it completed four Phase II trials with 161 patients prior to 2007 and a larger Phase II trial was slated for 2007. Preliminary results from the Phase II trials showed efficacy (an increase in cocaine-free days) in a significant number of patients in the treatment group (see the article in Medical News Today for more information).
Of course, Celtic does not plan to lobby to get TA-CD introduced into the list of common childhood vaccinations just yet. They intend to market the product to assist in the fight against cocaine addiction. Celtic reports that 800,000 patients in the US attend in-patient programs and out-patient clinics seeking treatment for cocaine addiction, and more than 95% of all cocaine addicts who try to quit relapse. This is a significant patient population that can benefit from this product. Along with counseling and the support of family and friends, it will be a tool to help addicts quit.
Further back in Celtic’s pipeline is TA-NIC, a nicotine vaccine. If TA-CD is successful, it may pave the way for TA-NIC as well. It’s not hard to imagine a full suite of vaccines against our pharmacological vices (marijuana, MDMA, heroin, crystal meth, etc.) on the market some day.
I’ll be looking for answers to some of the following questions in the Phase III studies:
- How long will the vaccine last before a booster dose is needed?
- How many patients will overdose because they increase their cocaine intake in hopes of overwhelming the anti-bodies and getting their high?
- How many patients will switch to another drug (e.g. methamphetamines) to get their fix?
And if the product makes it to market, how will our society react?
- Will addicts really submit to the vaccinations if the product promises to kill their high for, say, 10 years like a tetanus shot? That’s a big commitment for an addict – there’s no turning back.
- Will parents vaccinate their children against cocaine?
- Will employers require their employees to be vaccinated?
- How will cocaine producers innovate in order to retain their business?
This is an interesting product to keep an eye on. Your thoughts and comments are welcome.
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Comments
What an interesting product. I love the idea of this, however, one can see the potential downstream effects of a vaccination like this, especially as you outlined in the post. Could you imagine the civil rights debates this would cause? Should children be vaccinated…and what if there were court ordered vaccinations? Also, as Mariano says in his comment, it removes the effects of the drug not the addiction, so if there is no pre-existing addiction that’s one thing…but an addict would still suffer the withdrawal and physical effects of detoxing. As you mention that is a huge commitment. There’s no recourse for relief with this vaccination, this would be almost like a “bite on the belt” kind of decision.
Really good stuff! Thank you!
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Really interesting article, Scott. From a sociological standpoint, I would also be curious if this kind of vaccination would cause addicts to turn to another drug to get the high. After all, the vaccination appears to remove the user’s ability to get high, but not their addiction.
And does the vaccination chemically address the effects of possible withdrawl symptoms?
It’s a great first step, but I think there are going to be lots of studies done to determine whether it’s effective in deterring the addict.