Varenicline combined with nicotine patch improves smoking cessation rates

Combining the smoking cessation medication varenicline with nicotine replacement therapy was more effective than varenicline alone at achieving tobacco abstinence at six months, according to a study in the July 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The combination of behavioral approaches and pharmacotherapy are of proven benefit in assisting smokers to quit. Combining nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with varenicline, the active ingredient of Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) smoking cessation pill Chantix, has been a suggested treatment to improve smoking abstinence, but its effectiveness is uncertain, according to background information in the article.

Coenraad Koegelenberg, of Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa, and colleagues randomly assigned 446 generally healthy smokers to nicotine or placebo patch treatment two weeks before a target quit date (TQD) and continued for an additional 12 weeks. Varenicline was begun one week prior to TQD, continued for a further 12 weeks, and tapered off during week 13. The study was conducted in seven centers in South Africa from April 2011 to October 2012; 435 participants were included in the efficacy and safety analyses.