Cephalon’s narcolepsy drug Provigil, highly used as a so-called “smart drug” by students and professionals looking to boost their mental skills, may carry more of an addiction risk than previously thought, a small government study noted.

 

Provigil, known generically as modafinil, is officially approved for excess sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and shift work disorder, but is also used for weight loss, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, fatigue and depression. Last year, it had sales of more than $852 million. The drug is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule IV drug – a controlled substance with low potential for abuse relative to Schedule III drugs such as codeine or anabolic steroids.

 

Researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that PET or positron emission tomography scans of the brain in 10 healthy volunteers who took the drug showed it boosted the level of dopamine circulating in the part of the brain involved in pleasure, reward and addiction.

 

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that carries messages from nerve cell to nerve cell or other tissues. Drugs that increase dopamine have the potential for abuse.

 

“This drug is not safe to use the way people are using it. Not safe at all,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and co-author of the study, which was published on March 17 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

“Cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamine all block dopamine transporters and leave dopamine in the extracellular areas. Modafinil does the same,” she added.