A Conjugate Vaccine Using Enantiopure Hapten Imparts Superior Nicotine-Binding Capacity

Abstract

A leading nicotine conjugate vaccine was only efficacious for one-third of clinical trial participants, likely due in part to its use of racemic nicotine hapten, (±)-3′-AmNic. Immunization of male Wistar rats with (+)-, (−)-, or (±)-3′-AmNicSucTT and subsequent antibody immunoassays suggest that a vaccine using enantiopure (−)-3′-AmNic hapten imparts superior capacity to bind (−)-nicotine. Future nicotine vaccine clinical candidates must incorporate this design consideration (i.e., hapten enantiopurity) in order to maximize efficacy.