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Achieve's smoking-cessation drug lowers cigarette consumption in mid-stage study

Achieve Life Sciences Inc.'s experimental medicine cytisinicline lowered the daily number of cigarettes smoked by patients who are addicted to nicotine.

Results of the phase 2b trial, dubbed ORCA-1, showed that the 3-milligram dose three times a day helped 54% of patients refrain from smoking, as opposed to 16% of those receiving placebo, over a four-week period.

From week five to week eight, the abstinence rate for cytisinicline patients was 30% versus 8% seen in the placebo arm.

Cytisinicline was being studied in 254 patients in the U.S. who smoked at least 10 cigarettes daily and had at least one failed attempt at quitting the habit before the study. Trial participants had smoked on average for over 30 years.

Based on the study results, the company expects to undertake a phase 3 trial for the same indication, Achieve said in a Sept. 13 news release. It is presenting the findings at the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco Europe's annual conference Sept. 13.

Cytisinicline is thought to help people stop smoking by interacting with nicotine receptors in the brain.

The medicine has been in use in Central and Eastern Europe as an approved, branded product for more than 20 years, according to the release.