Smoking cessation product honoured by Prix Galien, Canada's most prestigious award for pharmaceutical research
Pfizer Canada accepted the Prix Galien Canada 2009 Innovative Product Award for CHAMPIX (varenicline tartrate), the first prescription treatment for smoking cessation in adults specifically designed to target nicotine addiction. The award was presented last night at a gala in Ottawa recognizing excellence in pharmaceutical research.
Judged by eight eminent specialists involved in the sphere of Canadian and Pharmaceutical research, the Prix Galien Innovative Product Award is presented to the company whose product has been deemed to have made the most significant overall contribution to patient care in Canada in terms of clinical efficacy, benefits and innovation.
"We are pleased to honour CHAMPIX with this year's Prix Galien Innovative Product Award," said Dr. Jacques Gagné, President of the Prix Galien Canada. "The jury was impressed with the scientific approach to the development of this product, and considers CHAMPIX to be a truly innovative product that has shown favourable clinical efficacy and safety."
Targeting Nicotine Addiction
In 2006 CHANTIX/CHAMPIX was approved by the FDA and EMEA, with Health Canada's approval following in early 2007. CHAMPIX is the first product specifically designed for smoking cessation, and it is an innovative, targeted therapy with a novel and unique dual mechanism of action. Unlike other therapies, it is not a nicotine replacement therapy and does not deliver any nicotine to the body. In clinical trials CHAMPIX was found to be safe and well tolerated. The drug is an important treatment option that has helped many smokers who want to quit in Canada and around the world.
Discovered by Pfizer Inc, CHAMPIX was developed at Pfizer's research facilities in Groton, Connecticut through a project that commenced in 1993. The original discovery team was seeking a smoking cessation treatment that could address the addictive properties of nicotine
"Two factors make quitting smoking challenging and prevent smokers from achieving long term abstinence from nicotine: The presence of craving and withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting, and the reinforcing effects of nicotine," said Brian O'Neill, Research Fellow, Pfizer Global Research and Development, who led one of the two chemistry labs involved in the development of CHAMPIX and accepted the award on behalf of Pfizer Canada Inc. "Based on the mechanism of nicotine addiction, we were able to develop a molecule that could specifically target the nicotinic receptors in the brain."