Scientists in Sweden are trialling a vaccine which could help smokers kick the habit.

In three Nordic countries, 400 people are taking part in the clinical study by Independent Pharmaceutica - a private company based at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute.

Chief Executive Lena Degling Wikingsson said: "By vaccination you will induce anti-bodies against nicotine and those anti-bodies will be very specific for nicotine.

"So when smoking, or taking your relapse cigarette, the anti-bodies will bind or catch the nicotine in the blood.

She continued: "Physically it works, you clear your body from nicotine and probably you will get rid of the physical craving. But the mental craving, that will still be there. There is no vaccine against that."

According to researchers, the vaccine eliminates the quick high smokers relish by creating antibodies that bind to nicotine molecules, making them too bulky to enter the brain.

Independent Pharmaceutica hope to have the vaccine on the market within three years.

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death in the world, killing 5.4 million people every year, an increasing proportion of those in low-income countries.

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