Company Watch

Pfizer launches Champix

Our News Bureau - Mumbai

Pfizer announced the launch of Champix, a unique non-nicotine smoking cessation prescription drug. Champix (varenicline) has been developed specifically to act on reducing nicotine craving as well as the pleasure of smoking. Research shows that the odds of quitting smoking on Champix are twice that of buproprion and four times that of placebo. All Champix users can avail of the `champs club' support program that together with the medication will help smokers desiring to quit, overcome their addiction. On the occasion of the launch, Kewal Handa, Managing Director, Pfizer India said, "Pfizer's Champix is the most innovative and effective oral smoking cessation product to be approved by the US FDA in the last 10 years. It has benefited over 5.7 million people since its worldwide launch in mid-2006. We are confident that Champix will provide the same level of benefits to smokers in India and contribute to a healthier world."

With comparatively superior efficacy plus a comprehensive behavioural `champs club' support program, Champix offers a complete and sustainable smoking cessation strategy to smokers who intend to get rid of the addiction. The result of two international studies shows that 44 percent of Champix-treated patients have quit smoking by the end of the 12-week treatment. Compare this with the annual two percent Indian smokers who are otherwise able to quit smoking on their own.

Dr Anjan Chatterjee, Medical Director, Pfizer said, "Champix offers a fresh opportunity to smokers in India who have previously failed quit attempts. The dearth of effective smoking cessation aids spurred our research teams at Pfizer to develop Champix and meet an unmet and urgent medical need. The holistic Champix therapy is designed to provide the necessary physiological and psychological support to the smoker."

To support smokers who are considering quitting, Pfizer will partner with smoking cessation clinics across India where smokers can seek counselling support, educational information about ill effects of smoking, tips and medical support to help them overcome their addiction. Elaborating on need for a holistic approach towards smoking cessation, Dr Sanjeev Mehta, Consultant Chest Physician, at Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai said, "The latest data reveal that by 2010, one million Indians will die due to smoking related diseases. Thus, the irony is that smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death in the country. WHO's report on the global tobacco epidemic reveals an increasing shift of smoking addiction from the Western world to developing countries. With such alarming statistics, a possible solution would be everyone taking a strong stand against smoking by educating people about its ill-effects at an early stage."