Cocaine vaccine gets approved for clinical trial on humans

Addicted to cocaine? There might be some hope if you’re longing to kick the addictive drug.

A new vaccine that would eliminate cocaine from the bloodstream and its effects on the brain is being developed by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

So far, the vaccine has only been tested on animals, but researchers just got approval to begin a control study that will test how it works on humans, the health system said in a statement.

More than two million people are affected by cocaine addiction in the U.S., which results in more than 500,000 visits to emergency rooms each year, according to the Addiction Center, an Orlando-based drug research organization.

The study will be led by Ronald Crystal, MD, chairman of the Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a pulmonologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

"While there are drugs like methadone designed to treat heroin, there aren't any therapeutics available to treat cocaine addiction,” Crystal said in a statement. “We hope that our vaccine will change that."

The vaccine, called dAd5GNE, is designed to absorb cocaine in the bloodstream before it has a chance to pass the blood-brain barrier and produce a dopamine-induced high. It triggers the immune system to unleash antibodies that attack cocaine molecules.

Crystal and his team are looking to enroll 30 active cocaine users. Once chosen, participants will have to stop taking the drug for at least 30 days before getting their first vaccine dose, which is injected into the shoulder. The study is slated to take about 32 weeks to complete.

"Most people who become cocaine addicts want to give it up, but struggle to kick the habit in the long-term," Crystal said. "If this vaccine works, it could represent a lifetime therapeutic for addicts."