It is the most effective in its category.
A chance for 12 million French people. A famous drug withdrawn from the market a few years ago will make a comeback in France, according to a decree published in the Official Journal on May 15. “We have been waiting for it for 2 years (…) We have suffering patients” Launches the pulmonologist Bertrand Dautzenberg to our colleagues from the pharmacies instructor. For Professor Yves Martinet, no longer being able to propose this drug is “A loss of luck for patients”.
The return of this treatment is planned “In mid-June”According to the press release published by its manufacturer, the Pfizer laboratory. If it is eagerly awaited by health professionals it is because its mode of action is unique compared to other treatments in its category and that it is also two, or even three, times more efficient than them. For some patients, this is the last chance medication. Its withdrawal from the French market had been announced in 2021 by the drug agency because of the presence of carcinogenic impurity (nitrosamines) in certain series. Since its withdrawal, no equivalent has taken over in France. “Its formulation (in particular the excipients entering its composition), as well as its manufacturing process have been revised” reassures pfizer.
This famous drug is Champix® (Varénicline). Marketed for the first time in France in 2007, he acts on the brain to help quit smoking by imitating nicotine. When the patient takes it, the brain receives a signal that calms the need to smoke, without triggering dependence. The drug reduces the symptoms of lack (such as irritability, sleep disorders or anxiety) and breaks the pleasure associated with cigarettes. It is reserved for people with high tobacco dependence either “The 10 to 15% of those which remain dependent on nicotine despite the classic substitutes” underlines Professor Dautzenberg.
The return of Champix® will strengthen the therapeutic arsenal, allow you to personalize the treatments (substitutes for some, Champix for others) and help patients who fail to quit smoking despite all their tests. Champix® will be available only on prescription. Its price will be 55 euros per box of 56 tablets and 28 euros per box of 28 tablets. It will be reimbursed in part by health insurance.
