In a process that has lasted 6 long years, a vaccine against nicotine is in the home stretch before coming to market. A currently on-going Phase III trial is the last step between today and the future, where a simple shot will forever destroy the potential to develop an addiction to nicotine.
The vaccine has entered into its Phase III trial, the last step before market. Phase III means it's already been tested on humans, and shown no major side effects, and are now bumping up the number of testees to see about rare side effects that may or may not show up in a group with smaller numbers. To better explain it, I turn to Wikipedia:
Phase III studies are randomized controlled multicenter trials on large patient groups (300–3,000 or more depending upon the disease/medical condition studied) and are aimed at being the definitive assessment of how effective the drug is, in comparison with current 'gold standard' treatment.
The vaccine 'hacks' the immune system into doing things it wasn't designed to do- the time honored computer-enthusiast meaning, not the cracker electronic criminal meaning. It makes the immune system deploy cells to bond with the nicotine, making it a much larger molecule- too large to pass the blood-brain barrier and get at the receptors in the brain that pump out dopamine when it's around. From the company:
Nicotine is a small molecule that upon inhalation into the body quickly passes into the bloodstream and subsequently reaches the brain by crossing the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain, the nicotine binds to specific nicotine receptors, which results in the release of stimulants, such as dopamine, providing the smoker with a positive sensation, which causes addiction. NicVAX is designed to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to nicotine in the bloodstream and prevent it from crossing the blood-brain barrier and entering the brain. Therefore, the brain does not produce the positive-sensation stimulants as a response to nicotine. Pre-clinical animal studies with NicVAX have shown that vaccination could prevent nicotine from reaching the brain blocking the effects of nicotine, including effects that can lead to addiction or can reinforce and maintain addiction.
Each shot renders you completely immune to the effects of nicotine for 6 months to a year, a perfect window for anyone who really needs that last bit of help to finally kick the habit, or for mothers with high school age kids it means a shot every September should ensure little Timmy just thinks the things taste like shit without giving him any sort of buzz.
The results have attracted so much attention that GSK (Glaxo-Smith-Kline) is buying the little drug company that could, whose making this drug, for 40 million up front and another 500 million on the final results of the Phase III trial.
Expect to see it on the market in the next 1-3 years. Quitting is about to get a whole lot easier.