New York, London, Bermuda, April 30, 2007 - Celtic Pharmaceuticals Holdings L.P. (“Celtic Pharma”) today announced it has received IND approval for TA-NIC, a vaccine being developed for the treatment of nicotine addiction. TA-NIC is designed to induce nicotine-specific antibodies. When nicotine enters the bloodstream of a TA-NIC-dosed patient it will encounter and bind to these antibodies. The antibody-nicotine complex is too large to cross the blood-brain barrier, so the pleasurable stimulus which typically accompanies smoking should be absent or reduced. The prior owners of TA-NIC completed two phase I/II studies in the United Kingdom in 120 patients who were smokers. These vaccination studies were not associated with any unexpected adverse events and there were indications of efficacy in the treated group compared to placebo.
