BRAZIL-DRUGS-ADDICTION-COCAINE-VACCINE

Brazilian psychiatrist Frederico Garcia, associate professor in the Department of Mental Health of the Faculty of Medicine and researcher responsible in the development of Calixcoca, a vaccine for cocaine and crack addiction, loads samples in a microplate with a multichannel pipette, at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, on June 7, 2023. Inhibiting the addictive effects of cocaine or crack to prolong the abstinence of users who are struggling to quit: this is the objective of "Calixcoca", a promising therapeutic vaccine developed by Brazilian scientists. This project won a prize of 500,000 euros last week from the pharmaceutical company Eurofarma intended to finance innovative solutions with "high impact" in the health sector. (Photo by Douglas Magno / AFP) (Photo by DOUGLAS MAGNO/AFP via Getty Images)