The nicotine vaccine (NicVAX), currently under development by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, is a chemical derivative of nicotine that is linked to a protein that induces an immune response.
NicVAX was evaluated in a recent study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, in a small cohort of 11 smokers who smoked an average of 19 cigarettes per day, smoked for an average of 10 years, thereby meeting criteria for nicotine dependence.