New Vaccine Could Lessen Chile’s Addiction To Cigarettes
A new vaccine developed by the North American Nabi Biopharmaceuticals may help bring an end to cigarette addiction. About 1.3 billion people are addicted to tobacco worldwide, including five million Chileans.
Tobacco addiction affects approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide, five million of which are Chilean. Photo courtesy of Flickr username b0r0da
The vaccine NicVax, which will be released towards the end of 2010, promotes the production of antibodies that attach themselves to nicotine particles within the body. Once this happens, the particles become too large to pass into the brain, which inhibits the release of dopamine- the neurohormone associated with feeling pleasure.
So far, trials have been carried out on people who smoke an average of 24 cigarettes each day and show a 50 percent success rate. This is twice the success rate found with prescription medications such as Champix.
“Nicotine patches and other medications replace nicotine with other substances,” said Jimmy Stehberg, a neurobiologist at Universidad Andrés Bello. “But this does not reduce the sensation of pleasure one gets from smoking… the (new) vaccine stops the nicotine from entering the brain, which reduces its addictive qualities.”
Chile’s leading tobacco sales company – Chiletabacos, an affiliate of British American Tobacco (BAT) – has a 98 percent market share of cigarette sales in the country. The company reports that sales this year have dropped to 12 billion cigarettes, down from 14 billion in 2008. The company also reports that consumers are now buying cheaper cigarettes such as Pall Malls (US$2 per pack).
While Pall Mall sales have risen by 32 percent in the recent years, sales of more expensive brands such as Belmont and Derby (US$2.60) have fallen by 50 percent since 2006.
Still, the economic downturn has not dampened the spirits of Chiletabacos general manager Benjamin Kemball, who hopes to maintain current production levels.
“We would like to increase our exports to other markets,” said Kemball. “Now we produce 20 billion cigarettes a year, 14 billion of which are sold locally and the rest is sold in the Southern Cone [Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay].” The company is currently looking into changing its name to British American Tobacco Chile.
In 2005 Chile’s Free Market Defense Court (TDLC) sanctioned Chiletabacos for exploiting its market position and signing exclusivity contracts with distributors in order to control competition. And in 2006 the Supreme Court upheld the finding against Chiletabacos.
The company was hit again two weeks ago with a new case brought by the National Economic Regulator (FNE). The FNE accused the company of not adhering to the 2006 verdict and asked the TDLC to fine the company US$17 million.
On July 14 Philip Morris – the world’s largest tobacco company – sued Chiletabaco demanding US$137.5 million in compensation. Philip Morris represents 4 percent of the Chilean tobacco market and markets locally the tobacco blends Marlboro and L&M (ST, July 26).
Sources: LA TERCERA, EL MERCURIO
By Gida Homad-Hamam
