Concurrent Bupropion / Varenicline for Smoking Cessation (ConNic4)

This study focuses on the first step in developing an algorithm for maximizing quit-smoking success based on an adaptive approach, which changes treatment from the initial nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) when that treatment alone may not be sufficient. These NRT "non-responders" are switched (in double-blind fashion) before the quit date to receive either varenicline alone or varenicline paired with bupropion. Some participants who would otherwise have failed at their quit smoking attempt could be "rescued" by switching to alternative pharmacotherapies. The proposed study will evaluate the combination treatment against varenicline alone in an adaptive trial design

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Nicotine Dependence
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Varenicline; Drug: Nicotine patches; Drug: Nicotine Inhaler; Drug: Bupropion

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 702
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, 28210
      • Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research
    • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27705
      • Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research
    • Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, 27609
      • Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research
    • Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 27103
      • Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-65 years old;
• smoked an average of at least 10 cigarettes per day for three cumulative years;
• have an expired air CO reading assessed at screening of at least 10ppm;
• express a desire to quit smoking within the next 30 days.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Hypertension (systolic >140 mm Hg, diastolic >100 mm Hg, coupled with a history of hypertension); subjects with no previous diagnosis of hypertension may have a screening blood pressure up to 160/100.
• Hypotension with symptoms (systolic <90 mm Hg, diastolic <60 mm Hg).
• Coronary heart disease;
• Lifetime history of heart attack;
• Cardiac rhythm disorder (irregular heart rhythm);
• Chest pains (unless history, exam, and ECG clearly indicate a non-cardiac source);
• Cardiac (heart) disorder (including but not limited to valvular heart disease, heart murmur, heart failure);
• History of skin allergy;
• Active skin disorder (e.g., psoriasis) within the last five years, except minor skin conditions (including but not limited to facial acne, minor localized infections, and superficial minor wounds);
• Liver or kidney disorder (except kidney stones, gallstones);
• Gastrointestinal problems or disease other than gastroesophageal reflux or heartburn;
• Active ulcers in the past 30 days;
• Currently symptomatic lung disorder/disease (including but not limited to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and asthma);
• Brain abnormality (including but not limited to stroke, brain tumor, and seizure disorder);
• Migraine headaches that occur more frequently than once per week;
• Recent, unexplained fainting spells;
• Problems giving blood samples;
• Diabetes treated with insulin; non-insulin treated diabetes (unless glucose is less than 180mg/dcl and HbA1c is less than 7%);
• Current cancer or treatment for cancer in the past six months (except basal or squamous cell skin cancer);
• Other major medical condition;
• Current psychiatric disease (with the exception of anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and ADHD);
• Suicidal ideation (within the past 10 years) or lifetime occurrence of attempted suicide;
• Current depression;
• Bulimia or anorexia;
• Pregnant or nursing mothers;
• Alcohol abuse;
• Use of Opiate medications for pain or sleep in the past 14 days;
• Significant adverse reaction to nicotine patches, nicotine inhalers, bupropion / Wellbutrin / Zyban or Chantix / Varenicline in the past.
• Use (within the past 30 days) of:
• Illegal drugs (or if the urine drug screen is positive),
• Experimental (investigational) drugs;
• Psychiatric medications including antidepressants, anti-psychotics or any other medications that are known to affect smoking cessation (e.g. clonidine);
• Smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco, snuff), cigars, pipes or e-cigarettes;
• Wellbutrin, bupropion, Zyban, Chantix, nicotine replacement therapy or any other smoking cessation aid.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: DOUBLE

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: varenicline; This group will consist of smokers who, based on smoking behavior, DO NOT respond favorably to pre-cessation nicotine patches (assessed at Session P2). They will receive varenicline.	Drug: Varenicline; For the first 3 days after being switched from nicotine patches (occurring at one week before the target quit date), smokers in this group will receive varenicline at a dose of 0.5 mg once per day followed by 0.5 mg twice a day for the remaining 4 days of that week. Subsequently, the dose will be 1 mg twice per day, and will remain at that dose for the remainder of the 12 weeks.; Other Names: Chantix
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Nicotine Patches only; This group will consist of smokers who, based on smoking behavior, respond favorably to pre-cessation nicotine patches(assessed at Session P2). They will continue to receive only nicotine patches.	Drug: Nicotine patches; Nicotine Replacement Therapy Groups: For smokers with high baseline carbon monoxide (CO): 42 mg/24 h for 2 weeks before the quit date and 3 weeks after the quit date, 21 mg/24 h for 4 weeks, 14 mg/24 h for 2 weeks, and 7 mg/24 h for 2 weeks; or; For smokers with low baseline CO: 21 mg/24 h for 2 weeks before the quit date and 7 weeks after the quit date, 14 mg/24 h for 2 weeks, and 7 mg/ 24 h for 2 weeks. Varenicline and varenicline in combination with bupropion groups: For smokers with high baseline CO: 42 mg/24 h for 1 week; For smokers with low baseline CO: 21 mg/24 h for 1 week; Other Names: Nicoderm
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Nicotine Patches with Nicotine Inhaler; This group will consist of smokers who, based on smoking behavior, respond favorably to pre-cessation nicotine patches (assessed at Session P2). They will continue to receive nicotine patches and will receive a nicotine inhaler to use as needed after their quit date.	Drug: Nicotine patches; Nicotine Replacement Therapy Groups: For smokers with high baseline carbon monoxide (CO): 42 mg/24 h for 2 weeks before the quit date and 3 weeks after the quit date, 21 mg/24 h for 4 weeks, 14 mg/24 h for 2 weeks, and 7 mg/24 h for 2 weeks; or; For smokers with low baseline CO: 21 mg/24 h for 2 weeks before the quit date and 7 weeks after the quit date, 14 mg/24 h for 2 weeks, and 7 mg/ 24 h for 2 weeks. Varenicline and varenicline in combination with bupropion groups: For smokers with high baseline CO: 42 mg/24 h for 1 week; For smokers with low baseline CO: 21 mg/24 h for 1 week; Other Names: Nicoderm; Drug: Nicotine Inhaler; Nicotine inhaler to use as needed after quit date; Other Names: Nicotrol Inhaler
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: varenicline with bupropion; This group will consist of smokers who, based on smoking behavior, DO NOT respond favorably to pre-cessation nicotine patches (assessed at Session P2). They will receive varenicline in combination with bupropion.	Drug: Varenicline; For the first 3 days after being switched from nicotine patches (occurring at one week before the target quit date), smokers in this group will receive varenicline at a dose of 0.5 mg once per day followed by 0.5 mg twice a day for the remaining 4 days of that week. Subsequently, the dose will be 1 mg twice per day, and will remain at that dose for the remainder of the 12 weeks.; Other Names: Chantix; Drug: Bupropion; For the first 3 days after being switched from nicotine patches (occurring at one week before the target quit date), smokers in this group will receive bupropion at a dose of 150mg once per day. Subsequently, the dose will be 150mg twice per day, and will remain at that dose for the remainder of the 12 weeks.; Other Names: Zyban

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Four-week Continuous Abstinence From Cigarette Smoking	The primary dependent measures will be continuous four-week abstinence from weeks 8-11 post target quit date, defined as a self-report of no smoking confirmed by expired air carbon monoxide.	Study week 8 thru week 11

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Seven Day Point Abstinence From Cigarette Smoking	Secondary outcome will include point abstinence (no smoking in the previous 7-day) at 6 months post-quit.	Six months post quit date
Continuous Cigarette Abstinence From Quit Date	Secondary outcome will include continuous abstinence from quit date to end of treatment (week 11).	From Quit date to end of treatment (week 11)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Duke University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); Philip Morris USA, Inc.

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hartmann-Boyce J, Theodoulou A, Farley A, Hajek P, Lycett D, Jones LL, Kudlek L, Heath L, Hajizadeh A, Schenkels M, Aveyard P. Interventions for preventing weight gain after smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Oct 6;10(10):CD006219. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006219.pub4.
• Rose JE, Behm FM. Combination treatment with varenicline and bupropion in an adaptive smoking cessation paradigm. Am J Psychiatry. 2014 Nov 1;171(11):1199-205. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13050595.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): March 1, 2013
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): July 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 23, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2011
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): February 25, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): August 6, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 4, 2014
• Last Verified: May 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Smoking cessation; varenicline; bupropion; Nicotine addiction; Cigarette smoking; Zyban; Chantix; Nicotine patches; Nicotrol Inhaler
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Tobacco Use Disorder; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Autonomic Agents; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Cholinergic Agents; Enzyme Inhibitors; Psychotropic Drugs; Neurotransmitter Uptake Inhibitors; Membrane Transport Modulators; Antidepressive Agents; Dopamine Agents; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors; Ganglionic Stimulants; Nicotinic Agonists; Cholinergic Agonists; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2D6 Inhibitors; Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; Nicotine; Bupropion; Varenicline
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro00027351; 1P50DA027840-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)