When most people think of vaccines they think of protection against viral types of diseases, protection that is brought about by small scale introduction of viruses into the bloodstream, a process that ultimately builds the antibodies needed in the body to produce immunity. And, indeed, this has traditionally been the mechanism and purpose behind vaccination since its widespread use began over 100 years ago.

But drug developers over that last couple of decades have started to look at new ways to apply the principle of inoculation, with scientists investigating novel approaches to vaccination in the hope of fighting a wide range of diseases. One area that is thought to be especially promising is the research and development effort to create vaccines to fight cancer, which many believe will revolutionize the treatment of the disease in coming years. And in the last few years, there have also been increasing, and quite promising, efforts to develop inoculations against addiction, with U.S and European biotech companies working on vaccines that combat nicotine and cocaine.

“We really believe that this area has quite a bit of promise,” says Henrik Rasmussen, senior vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs at Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, which is developing a vaccine against nicotine called NicVAX. So promising is Nabi’s approach considered, in fact, that the National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded NicVAX’s outside clinical costs, as well as the bulk of clinical trial costs so far, according to Nabi CEO Tom McClain.

The mechanism of action of the NicVAX vaccine is highly interesting, and is also indicative of the major advancements biotech concerns like Nabi have been able to realize in their formulations of vaccines for a range of diseases.

“The thing with nicotine molecules is that they are very, very small,” explains Rasmussen, adding that, because of this, when nicotine enters the bloodstream through smoke in the lungs, the immune system does not recognize that a foreign substance has entered the body, allowing the nicotine to pass unimpeded to the brain. “With NicVAX, what happens is every time nicotine molecules enter the bloodstream a protein molecule attaches to the nicotine which increases the size of the molecule, making it recognizable to the immune system, which can then make nicotine antibodies that block the substance’s path to the brain,” says Rasmussen. These novel types of inoculation therapies are known as “protein conjugate vaccines.” In Europe, Xenova Group, a UK-based holding company for drug development subsidiaries, is working on a vaccine of this type to treat cocaine addiction, as well as nicotine addiction.

Efforts to develop a vaccine to combat cocaine go back as far as the mid-1990s, when now defunct ImmuLogic demonstrated in trials with mice that cocaine antibodies could be effective in reducing drug seeking behavior. Xenova is now well advanced in its clinical trials, with its TA-CD vaccine for cocaine having been proved safe for humans and, in more advanced trials, shown to have reduced relapse rates relatively sharply.

Another European firm, French biotech Drug Abuse Sciences, which is the first and only drug company in world devoted exclusively to developing medications to treat addiction, is also working on a vaccine for cocaine. DAS is currently in the very early pre clinical trial stage in determining whether its COC-AB vaccine is effective in treating cocaine overdoses, as well as potentially cocaine addiction. The company has also acquired technology from Abbott Laboratories, something it calls DAS-431, which clinical trials have shown to be effective in reducing cocaine cravings, euphoria and intentions to use. According to DAS, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has shown keen interest in an inhalation delivery method version of DAS-431, also potentially indicating that it might sponsor trials for such a product. PD