Varenicline aids smoking reduction and quit rates

A new study has suggested that for smokers willing to reduce cigarette consumption before attempting to quit, varenicline significantly increased smoking cessation rates.

The randomised, double-blind trial, sponsored by Pfizer, was conducted in 10 countries including the UK. The study enrolled 1510 cigarette smokers who were not willing or able to quit smoking within the next month, but who wanted to reduce smoking and make a quit attempt within the next three months. Patients (n=760) received varenicline for 24 weeks titrated to 1mg twice daily or placebo (n=750).

Varenicline users were almost five times (relative risk [RR] 4.6) more likely to be continuously abstinent, confirmed by carbon monoxide levels, during weeks 15 through 24 compared with placebo (32.1% and 6.9% respectively). Varenicline users were about three times more likely than those taking placebo to be abstinent during weeks 21 through 24 (37.8% and 12.5% respectively; RR 3.0) and weeks 21 through 52 (27.0% and 9.9%; RR 2.7).