thirds of them got five doses of the vaccine, at varying doses, over four months. One-third got a placebo. Everyone was counseled about quitting smoking. "The whole thing is totally exploratory," Renner said in an interview. Cornuz's team tested the volunteers for antibody response, and found some produced more than others. Those who produced the most antibody after receiving the vaccine were also the most likely to be able to stop smoking -- 57 percent of them did. All the smokers who got the vaccine had some sort of anti-nicotine antibody response. None of the smokers given a placebo produced any anti-nicotine antibodies, although 31 percent of them were able to stop smoking for 24 weeks. Renner said his company also wanted to make vaccines to treat high blood pressure and Alzheimer's disease. The high blood pressure vaccine would target angiotensin 2, a protein that regulates the blood vessels, which is currently affected by drugs on the market called angiotensisn 2 inhibitors. Renner said high blood pressure patients did not always take their drugs consistently and he believed a vaccine might be a more reliable way to control blood pressure. Smoking is extremely addictive and on average, it takes 11 tries to quit. Tobacco use is the single largest cause of cancer and heart disease and kills 5 million people a year, according to the World Health Organization.
