Scientists in Brazil are developing the primary vaccine against cocaine addiction.
The possibly miraculous jab, named Calixcoca, is designed to trigger an immune response that blocks the drug from reaching the brain — which then stops addicts from getting high, reportedly helping users break the cycle of addiction.
A research team from the Federal University of Minas Gerais has announced promising results on their work — earning them them the highest prize of $530,000 ultimately week’s Euro Health Innovation awards for Latin American medicine.
The vaccine prompts the body to provide antibodies that bind to cocaine’s molecules within the bloodstream.
The cocaine molecules then turn out to be too large to proceed into the brain’s “reward center,” where the drug typically produces high levels of dopamine. Users would then be deprived of the expected thrill related to the highly addictive drug.
“There’s no specific registered treatment for cocaine and crack addiction. We currently use a mixture of psychological counseling, social assistance and rehabilitation, when obligatory,” researcher Frederico Garcia told Barron’s.
The vaccine is meant to help addicts at their most important stages of recovery, comparable to after they leave rehab, he added.
The vaccine is created with chemical compounds fairly than biological ingredients, which might make the drug cheaper to provide than many other vaccines. It might also not should be stored at cold temperatures — allowing for ease of handling.
The trials have only been run on animals, but is about to start being tested on humans next. Greater than 3,000 people have volunteered to participate within the clinical trials.
The experts imagine this groundbreaking research could change how addiction is treated.
The Post has contacted the researchers for comment.
Brazil is the world’s second-biggest consumer of cocaine, just behind the US.
American scientists have attempted, to date unsuccessfully, to create the same vaccine.
In 2016, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Latest York-Presbyterian Hospital announced that a vaccine had been approved for clinical trials after earlier experiments on monkeys and rodents. Human trials ended, nonetheless, after they failed to indicate sufficient results.
In 2016, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital announced the same vaccine had been approved for clinical trials after earlier experiments on monkeys and rodents.
No updates have been published.
Drug overdoses have drastically increased in recent times. Actually, the US is now experiencing its biggest overall rates of death in greater than a century — and it’s being fueled by a pointy rise in ODs.