Two of the 16 smokers in the group were to get nicotine patches.

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Elan, of Dublin, started out as a company specializing in ways to deliver other pharmaceutical companies' drugs in novel ways--for example, nicotine patches.

FORBES: Elan's spin

Nevertheless, Tourette's syndrome is so distressing to patients and their families that doctors who treat the disorder are getting more and more requests for nicotine patches.

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Prisoners are to be given stop-smoking courses, and nicotine patches, to help them deal with withdrawal symptoms and quit over the next 12 months, reports said.

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Women who had a minor variant of this gene were only half as likely to quit smoking and stay off tobacco, in an experiment that involved nicotine patches.

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Research shows that nicotine replacement medications like nicotine gum, patches or inhalers double a smoker's chances of quitting.

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Until Chantix was approved, smokers had two drug options: nicotine replacement, including patches, gums and inhalers, and Zyban, a generic antidepressant developed by GlaxoSmithkline a decade ago.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Chantix, launched in May 2006, is the only drug designed specifically to combat nicotine addiction ever sold in the U.S. Previous stop-smoking aids either contain nicotine, like gums and patches, or are re-purposed antidepressants.

FORBES: Magazine Article