A Vaccine for addiction?

An advance online publication from Molecular Therapy reports on a possible vaccine for cocaine addiction.

Based on the concept that anticocaine antibodies could prevent inhaled cocaine from reaching its target receptors in the brain, an effective anticocaine vaccine could help reverse cocaine addiction.

The website io9 reports “By combining a cocaine-like molecule with part of the common cold virus, you get a vaccine that turns the immune system against cocaine, keeping it away from the brain.”

Allegedly, this is the first ever vaccine for drug addiction. However, at this point it’s only worked on mice.

Full citation
Cocaine Analog Coupled to Disrupted Adenovirus: A Vaccine Strategy to Evoke High-titer Immunity Against Addictive Drugs Cocaine Analog Coupled to Disrupted Adenovirus: A Vaccine Strategy to Evoke High-titer Immunity Against Addictive Drugs
Hicks JH, et al.
Molecular Therapy (2010); doi:10.1038/mt.2010.280
http://www.nature.com/mt/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mt2010280a.html