KEY POINTS:
A lozenge designed to deliver nicotine hits up to twice as fast as current quit smoking treatments will have a world first trial in New Zealand next month.
Ninety volunteers in Auckland will try the lozenge, plus a mouth spray and an oral pouch developed by Swedish researchers, The Sunday Star Times reported today.
Experts hope the new products will get nicotine to the brain within 15 minutes, significantly reducing cravings for those who want to quit cigarettes.
"There are no magic cures for stopping smoking, unfortunately," said Hayden McRobbie, research fellow at Auckland University's Clinical Trials Research Unit, which will run the trial.
"But medications definitely help, and they help by making stopping smoking easier. They essentially double your chances of quitting."
About 700,000 New Zealanders smoke and Quitline said tobacco smoking kills about 4700 Kiwis a year.
The new products, developed by Swedish company NicoNovum, are due in New Zealand in the next fortnight.
- NZPA
