Some Useful Links

Treating Drug Addiction

• HBO: The Addiction Project
  HBO's documentary Addiction features nine segments by distinguished documentary filmmakers. The segment "Brain Imaging" was filmed at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Catalyst's collaborator in developing vigabatrin as a treatment for addictions. The HBO movie is available in DVD format. Rodale Press publishes a companion book.
• GVG: A Promising Strategy for Treating Addiction
  Brookhaven National Laboratory information on GVG (CPP-109)
• National Institute on Drug Abuse
  NIDA supports more than 85 percent of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction.
• American Society of Addiction Medicine
• International Center for Advancement of Addiction Treatment
• National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
• CASA report, May 2009
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University details costs of addictions in 2005: "For every dollar federal and state governments spent to prevent and treat substance abuse and addiction, they spent $59.83 in public programs shoveling up its wreckage."

Click on illustrations above to see an animation of how
CPP-109 (vigabatrin) works. CPP-115 works similarly.
(11.4 MB file, courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Treating Epilepsy

• Epilepsy.com
  Epilepsy and seizure information for patients and health professionals
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  (NINDS)
• NINDS: Anticonvulsant Screening Program
  (ASP)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  Extensive information on epilepsy

Accelerated Research

• National Institutes of Health: Rapid Access to Interventional Development
  (NIH-RAID)
• FDA: Fast Track, Accelerated Approval and Priority Review
  Distinguishing three approaches used by the Federal Drug Administration to acclerate availability of new drugs for patients with serious diseases

Scientific Pioneer

Nora Volkow, MD, now director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), was instrumental in showing that addiction is a disease of the brain. Her early career was spent at Brookhaven National Laboratory, from which Catalyst licenses rights to develop vigabatrin (CPP-109) as a treatment for addictions. HBO presents an online interview with Dr. Volkow in connection with its Addiction Project.