Quit Smoking Drug From Eastern Europe Better Than Nicotine Tx?

Nancy A. Rigotti, MD, of the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard in Boston, agreed in aneditorial accompanying the NEJM paper. However, getting the drug to the U.S. market could be a challenge, Rigotti told MedPage Today. The manufacturer in Bulgaria never saw a market for the drug in the U.S. and so never tried for approval, she explained. "We're sort of stuck here," she said in an interview. "We need to find a sponsor for the drug who can take it through the licensing process, but once it went through the licensing process that sponsor would probably make it more expensive. So we might end up with another drug that is just as expensive as others." She called instead for "creative collaboration" among regulators, pharma, research funding agencies, and other stakeholders interested in the public health benefit of smoking cessation in order to find some novel pathway through the system for the drug. MedPageToday is a trusted and reliable source for clinical and policy coverage that directly affects the lives and practices of health care professionals. Physicians and other healthcare professionals may also receive Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits at no cost for participating in MedPage Today hosted educational activities. Video >>> http://www.medpagetoday.com