“For it to be available in France, it would be a very good idea,” says a tobacco specialist

Varenicline will be distributed free to tens of thousands of Britons. This active ingredient, which replaces nicotine, should allow smokers to get rid of their addiction.

Whether the anti-smoking pill is available in the UK “be available in France, that would be a very good idea”said Tuesday, November 12 in franceinfo evening Marion Adler, tobacco specialist at the Antoine Béclère hospital in Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine), while varenicline, an active ingredient which replaces nicotine and should allow the smoker to get rid of his addiction, will be distributed free to tens of thousands of Britons.

It is the NHS, the British public health service, which is launching this distribution. This drug had already been available for several years but was withdrawn from the market due to impurities. The new version will be available free of charge in the UK, on ​​prescription, and will not be available over the counter in pharmacies.

The varénicline “has proven its effectiveness”assure Marion Adler. “We had it available in France in 2007” et “until 2021-2022” when he was “removed from the market in all countries due to impurities”recalls the tobacco specialist. It is now being manufactured again “in England and the United States”. “They of course removed the impurities.”

This anti-smoking pill “is a medicine that has helped many people quit smoking”. The doctor emphasizes that it is “important to have several options to help smokers quit smoking”. Varenicline helps smokers “to stop gently and without suffering from withdrawal”just like “nicotine substitutes given at the right dose”or even “vaping which can also be a help in stopping smoking”.

Varenicline, a molecule present in this anti-smoking pill, is “the same molecule” which made up Champix indicated for smoking cessation in adults, specifies the tobacco specialist. “Champix was in the domain of a laboratory which had done the research for varenicline and which had exclusivity for sale.” But the molecule is now “exit from the domain of exclusivity”. The medicine can therefore be “in generic form, which is a very good thing”according to the tobacco specialist, to allow a “much lower cost”.

Marion Adler pleads for “let a laboratory resume” the same medicine as that dispensed “in England, to manufacture it and make it available to smokers to help them quit smoking”. “If it were available in France, it would be a very good idea”adds the doctor.