Vocci, 53, who heads the medication division at the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Bethesda, Md., is currently researching more than 60 experimental anti-addiction compounds. When he joined NIDA in 1989, there were none.

Vocci has helped make the development of drugs to treat drug addiction a major research focus at NIDA. Over the years, he has persevered despite pharmaceutical companies' concerns that the stigma of drug addiction would taint the reputation of their best-selling products.

Vocci won the pharmaceutical industry over by pledging not to disclose their trade secrets and offering companies access to the government's array of medication-screening capabilities and clinical beds.

He said the "disbelieving" pharmaceutical industry "felt we were really in a maze and that we were really going to have a difficult time."

In the end, science won out. "What was said then, no one would say now," Vocci said. "We really do have molecular targets in the brain that we can address in a systematic way to develop medications. I have put this forth to multiple pharmaceutical industry people and no one has said, 'You're wrong.' They've all said, 'Agreed.' That's a major change."

Currently, several major pharmaceutical companies and small biotech firms are researching drugs to treat addiction.

"I sat down with my boss one day and said a paradigm shift will have occurred when companies come to see us rather than us seeing them," Vocci said. "And that has happened."

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

SUBMIT A COMMENT:

Submissions are held for review and approval.
Please read the guidelines before posting.

Name:
Comment: (limit 250 words)
Enter this word (help):	Change

Guidelines for comments