Trump’s new opioid plan supports addiction vaccine

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

President Donald Trump delivers remarks on “combatting the opioid crisis” in a speech at Manchester Community College in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., March 19, 2018.

President Donald Trump revealed his new plan to combat the opioid crisis on Monday in New Hampshire, a state hard-hit by painkiller and heroin addiction and overdose in recent years. The call to execute certain drug traffickers is drawing the most attention, but another part of the plan could make a big difference: The White House will support research into developing a vaccine for opioid addiction.

This support would boost the efforts of scientists who hit a major breakthrough in December. Researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the National Institute on Drug Abuse developed an experimental heroin vaccine for mice and rats. They found that antibodies in the vaccine bound to the heroin before crossing the blood-brain barrier, thus preventing the euphoric effects of the drug.

Taking a drug that works in mice and making it work in humans is a big step, and this vaccine still has a long way to go. Funding will make a big difference.

“It’s central,” said Dr. David Rosenbloom, a professor of public health at Boston University. “You need research dollars for the basic research, and you need significant research for clinical trials.”

The vaccine didn’t interfere with methadone or buprenorphine, mild opioid medications that are used to wean opioid addicts off the drug. These medications reduce withdrawal and cravings. The vaccine also didn’t interact with naloxone (also known as Narcan), the medication used to reverse an opioid overdose.

Doctors argue this vaccine’s noninterference with other treatments is crucial, because curbing the opioid crisis will require a multifaceted approach. The vaccine itself won’t solve the problem.

“This is not any kind of magic bullet,” said Dr. John Franklin, the chief of addictions in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern. “This is another tool to give opioid users a chance.”

Franklin said the vaccine will work only in the short term and require repeated doses. It will be very expensive, and addicts will have to voluntarily take it. But if implemented along with other opioid treatments, the vaccine could play a promising role in curbing the epidemic.