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New treatment to help Australian smokers kick the habit

Monday December 17, 2007

CHAMPIX® (Varenicline tartrate), a new prescription-only treatment for smoking cessation in adults, will be available as an Authority prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from 1 January 20081.

CHAMPIX®* is the first prescription medication specifically designed to help people stop smoking2 and offers a new option to the 73 percent of Australian smokers who want to kick the habit3.

CHAMPIX® works by blocking the effect of nicotine on the brain, reducing the pleasurable and reinforcing effects associated with smoking2. CHAMPIX® can also reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms during the quitting period2.

Associate Professor Matthew Peters, Head of Respiratory Medicine at Concord Hospital, Sydney, said “Quitting smoking is a long and difficult process, with most smokers making five to seven attempts before they finally succeed4.”

“Nicotine addiction has been shown to be a major challenge to quitting5-7. When a person smokes cigarettes, nicotine travels to the brain and creates a brief but pleasurable feeling. The body wants that pleasurable feeling to continue, so as nicotine levels fall, it starts to crave more nicotine. This is what makes quitting smoking so tough.

Three million people in Australia currently smoke8, making it the leading preventable cause of death in this country7. With just over one in two smokers planning to quit in the next three months3, the availability of CHAMPIX® on the PBS is great news, as it provides suitable smokers with another effective option to help them quit,” said Associate Professor Peters.

Smokers begin their therapy with CHAMPIX® and set their quit date between day 8 and day 14. They continue to smoke until this time and then after quitting smoking, therapy continues for the remainder of the 12 week treatment course.

Statistics show smoking is responsible for the death of an estimated 19,000 Australians each year which is estimated to be 80 percent of all drug related deaths9. Furthermore, one in two people who smoke die of a smoking related disease and those who die lose on average 16 years of life9.

“For most people, smoking is both a physical and behavioural addiction. With this in mind, the most effective method of helping smokers quit combines medication with advice and behavioural support10,” said Associate Professor Peters.

People taking CHAMPIX® will have access to a free online program from Pfizer that helps with the psychological and behavioural aspects of quitting by providing support and motivation, identifying smoking triggers, and helping to find alternative activities to smoking.

The availability of this combined treatment method offers GPs a new strategy to help patients who are ready and willing to quit smoking.

Professor Nick Zwar, Professor of General Practice of the University of New South Wales, has welcomed the availability of CHAMPIX® and believes GPs now have a fresh opportunity to discuss quitting smoking with their patients and help them combat nicotine addiction.

“Smoking is a chronic and relapsing condition5. This makes it hard for GPs to keep their patients on the path to being smoke free, especially as most try to quit without medication11, and only three to five per cent of these people will remain smoke free for up to 12 months.12

“CHAMPIX® is taken as an oral tablet for a period of 12 weeks13. People wanting to quit smoking should visit their doctor to see if CHAMPIX® is suitable for them,” said Professor Zwar.

This product is authority listed on the PBS as an aid for smoking cessation for adults. Refer to PBS Schedule for full restricted benefit information.

Please read the Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) available on this website. Choose Products and visit the Consumer Medical Information link under Prescription Medicines.

Safety information

Champix is a prescription only medicine to help adult smokers who are motivated to quit smoking.

Champix is contraindicated in those patients who have an allergy to the active substance of the medicine or to any of its components.

In clinical trials about 3 in 10 people taking Champix experienced nausea. Other adverse events found were: headache, insomnia and abnormal dreams.

Smoking cessation with or without treatment can be associated with various symptoms such as changes in mood, insomnia, irritability, anger, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, increase appetite or reduced heart rate. It can also be associated with the exacerbation of underlying psychiatric disease. Until patients assess how quitting smoking or Champix affects them, caution should be exercised when driving or operating machinery. Champix has not been tested in pregnant or nursing women or in people under the age of 18.

There have been post marketing reports of depressed mood, agitation, changes in behaviour, suicide ideation and suicide in people taking Champix. The role of Champix in these reports is not known.

Based on the clinical experience available so far, no meaningful drug interactions have been found when Champix is used with other medicines. Nevertheless smoking cessation with or without treatment can result in changes in pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics of some drugs.

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