Company Needs 19 Cocaine Addicts

A local company testing a drug to help curb cocaine addicts' cravings hopes to wrap up the trial by the end of the year.

The company, Embera NeuroTherapeutics, still needs 19 cocaine addicts to undergo the six-week trial. Twenty-six are in the trial or have finished it. Participants get a placebo or a combination drug consisting of a tranquilizer and a stress hormone blocker. The drug, named EMB-001 by developer Dr. Nick Goeders, is based on his 25 years of research into addiction at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. Goeders founded Embera to try to bring EMB-001 to market.

A 2006 national drug use survey estimated that 1.7 million Americans could be classified as dependent on cocaine or abusers of the drug. Experts say there's an 80 percent relapse rate following 12-step programs.

Goeders also notes most substance abuse treatments mimic the effect of the substance — like methadone for heroin addicts — or make using the substance unpleasant, like antibuse prescribed for alcoholics.

He said EMB-001 aims to break the addiction cycle by allowing an addict to control the mechanism underlying relapses.

Ads and fliers about the drug trial yielded about 100 phone calls from people interested in participating.

Administrators conducting the study at LSU Health Sciences Center screened more than 40 people.

Some had multiple addictions and were ruled out. People already in a treatment program weren't eligible to participate, so researchers couldn't recruit from rehabilitation centers. Some addicts started participating but dropped out, said Stephanie Casso, an Embera spokesman.

"This is something new for this area. People know about clinical trials for cancer treatments, but I'm not sure they understand what this is about," Casso said.

Lab results from addicts already in the trial sit in a locked filing cabinet in Casso's office. The information goes to a statistician in Chicago, who will compile results once 45 people complete the trial.

"This has really been hard for me. I'm used to looking at lab results every day," Goeders said.

The trial is an exploratory study. If the results show that EMB-001 helps cocaine addicts control their cravings and avoid relapse, Embera is in a better position to seek money for other trials, Casso said.

Goeders wants to test the drug's effectiveness on cravings related to other forms of addiction. Although addictive substances and stress triggers vary, he said the body's response to stress-induced cravings is the same in any situation.

If the results don't support Goeder's theory, the company may change the proportion of drugs or other variables and conduct another trial, Casso said.