Professor develops painless, needle-free nicotine vaccine

Interview with Dr. Xinyuan Chen:

Pharmacy Building, Feb. 15

Marissa: What exactly is the nicotine vaccine and how does it not hurt?

Dr. Xinyuan Chen: The nicotine vaccine is a laser-based vaccine, which makes it not hurt. It blocks nicotine’s entry into the brain, helping to fight addiction. We apply both nicotine vaccine and powder to the skin surface, and the powder will be able to enter the skin through those tiny micro channels.

Marissa: Is it something that’s available?

Dr. Xinyuan Chen: No it’s not available yet. Scientists have been working to develop an effective nicotine vaccine for years and currently there is no available nicotine vaccine to smokers who wanted to quit. We are trying to develop another delivery technology that helps to boost nicotine vaccine antibody production.”

Marissa: Are there any students involved?

Dr. Xinyuan Chen: There is one undergraduate student who is in her junior year. She is helping to develop this delivery technology efficiency in my lab.

Marissa: Are there going to be prerequisites that will qualify them to receive the vaccine?

Dr. Xinyuan Chen: “I think that if the nicotine vaccine is available, it should be available to anybody who wants to quit. In the future, if nicotine is available, is approved, it should be available to anyone who wants to quit. Currently, we are still in the early phase of developing this technology for nicotine vaccine delivery. But after several years, if everything goes well, maybe we can use this technology for nicotine vaccine delivery and help smokers to quit.”

Marissa: What prompted you to do this research?

Dr. Xinyuan Chen: “I thought about this delivery idea because I came from the dermatology department and we were developing a laser-based approach to improve skin look. We use lasers to remove wrinkles and to remove sun damage to the skin. There is one specific [laser] that can generate micro-channels in the skin surface. Then we thought, maybe it’s a good idea to use this laser technology to facilitate powder drug or powder vaccine to enter the skin through those tiny channels, because our skin surface has a very thin layer.”