Quit smoking with a pill? New drugs show promise

Varenicline is in Phase III testing, normally the last step before a company applies for approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers are racing to develop a potentially lucrative drug that would make smoking as treatable as erectile dysfunction, high cholesterol and acid reflux disease.

Major pharmaceutical companies and small start-ups see the potential for billions of dollars in sales for a vaccine or a nicotine-free pill that could end addiction at the chemical level for America's 50 million smokers.

"It's the biggest addiction market there is," said Dr Herbert D Kleber, a psychiatry professor and addiction researcher at Columbia University. "Is it realistic to be able to help addicts stop smoking and remain off with a pill? I think the answer is yes and we're working on a number of them."

While nicotine patches, gums, lozenges and sprays help wean smokers off cigarettes by slowly reducing their dependence on nicotine, researchers are tailoring drugs to mimic or block nicotine's chemical reactions with the body.

In Connecticut, researchers at Pfizer Inc. Identified a brain receptor that nicotine binds to and designed a drug, varenicline, that latches to the same site. Varenicline is in Phase III testing, normally the last step before a company applies for approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers hope that the drug will attach to nicotine receptors in the brain, preventing overpowering cravings from setting in when someone stops smoking.

If varenicline's claims hold up, the drug could generate more than $500 million a year in sales, said David Moskowitz, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.