Gilead Finds Possible Treatment for Cocaine Addiction

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) announced on Sunday that it may have found a way to treat cocaine addiction using an element extracted from the vines of a Southeastern-grown plant called Kudzu.

Extracts from the vines had previously been used to treat alcohol addiction, and tests on laboratory animals showed a reduction in desire for cocaine, according to a published report by Gilead in Nature Medicine.

The report also showed that the mice used in the experiment did not relapse into addiction after getting clean, as the kudzu compound raises levels of tetrahydropapaveroline or THP in the brain.