Pfizer launches Champix in the UK

USA-based drug major Pfizer has announced the UK launch of the smoking cessation treatment Champix (varenicline tartrate). The firm added that the product's dual action, which relieves cravings and addresses withdrawal symptoms associated with smoking cessation, potentially reduces the satisfaction gained from smoking a cigarette while attempting to quit.

Pfizer said that, in trials, Champix enabled 44% of those who received it to stop smoking after 12 weeks of treatment, improving the odds of cessation four-fold in comparison with placebo. The company added that drug doubled the chances of stopping when compared with GlaxoSmithKline's Zyban (bupropion; Marketletters passim).

The UK launch follows the product's entry into the US market, where it is sold under the trade name Chantix (Marketletter August 14). A Pfizer spokesman told the Marketletter that the product will also be made available in other European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Norway and Sweden, over the next few weeks.