More than 5 million smokers successfully smoke-free since therapeutic nicotine made available over-the-counter a decade ago

Effective policy changes worldwide reinforce need for safe, effective and accessible quit methods

Washington D.C., July 12, 2006 — GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare is marking the 10th anniversary of when therapeutic nicotine (TN) products became available over-the-counter (OTC) at the 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOH). GSK’s therapeutic nicotine products have helped more than five million smokers around the world successfully quit using safe and effective stop-smoking aids. Yet, there is a significant need to encourage and educate the more than 1.3 billion current smokers around the world on how to quit successfully. Shifts in public policy like smoke-free laws and cigarette tax increases are encouraging more and more smokers to attempt quitting. It is important that those smokers have access to counseling, behavioral support programs, and FDA-approved safe and effective stop-smoking products. At the conference, GSK will highlight the latest support resources available to smokers.

“Over the past decade, GSK has made tremendous progress by helping millions of smokers quit successfully and live longer tobacco-free lives,” said Katie Kemper, vice president, GSK Global Smoking Control. “But our job is far from over. Smokers must understand that there is no magic pill. Smokers and health care professionals need to know that successful quit attempts require breaking the addiction to nicotine and modifying behavior.”

International guidelines from the United States, United Kingdom and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend TN as a first-line treatment for smoking addiction. Quitters using therapeutic nicotine can double their chances of success versus quitting without help. Therapeutic nicotine products like Nicorette ® gum, NicoDerm®CQ® patch and Commit ® lozenge, are available in more than 35,000 retail outlets in the United Statesand under the NiQuitin brand name in other countries. These stop smoking aids are designed specifically to break the daily addiction cycle by offering a gradual, controlled delivery of nicotine to the body, helping to relieve cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

“Many smokers wrongly believe they can simply put down their cigarettes and walk away forever,” said Saul Shiffman, PhD, world-renowned researcher and professor in the departments of psychology and pharmaceutical science at the University of Pittsburgh. “What smokers don’t realize is while the body clears nicotine relatively quickly the effects of nicotine can last for months. Therapeutic nicotine helps safely reduce cravings so a smoker can wean himself off nicotine gradually, allowing him to focus on changing his behavior.”

Nicotine addiction + habit change

Research shows that one-third of all quit attempts fail within 48 hours. Nicotine withdrawal will lead to desperate cravings that are hard to overcome with willpower alone. Therapeutic nicotine releases temporary, controlled low doses of nicotine in a steady stream that ends gradually and it helps the relieve cravings by teaching the brain to live with less nicotine and then eventually no nicotine.

Tobacco-delivered nicotine re-programs and trains their brain to connect daily routines with familiar cravings to sustain certain levels of nicotine. Everyday activities trigger the urge to smoke, such as drinking coffee in the morning, talking on the phone, taking a break at work, and driving. During these times, cravings for a cigarette are actually the brain looking for an intake of nicotine. Therapeutic nicotine relieves these intense cravings, as it gives the brain exactly what it needs. It reduces intense cravings and withdrawal symptoms, helping quitters more easily cope.

Safety and efficacy of therapeutic nicotine

Therapeutic nicotine is extensively proven to reduce and often eliminate cravings during quitting, allowing smokers to focus on behavior change. More than 110 studies involving tens of thousands of participants have demonstrated the safety of therapeutic nicotine, even in populations with specific health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, lung disease, and existing heart disease.

Additional smoking cessation resources

Because quitting cigarettes also requires behavior change, GSK Consumer Healthcare offers smokers a variety of customized resources to help smokers and non-smokers understand and address smoking cessation and address habits formed from smoking. GSK also actively supports government policies which are proven to motivate smokers to quit, such as comprehensive clean indoor air legislation and other measures recommended by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Committed Quitters®

Committed Qui tters is the only free, tailored Web-based behavioral support program that has been proven to increase a smoker’s chances of quitting. This program is available as Click2Quit in the UK. Participants receive a customized smoking cessation plan after completing an online questionnaire that gathers information about their habits, behaviors, and motivations for smoking and quitting. The program provides coping strategies, advice, and incentives to stay smoke-free, and has been evaluated in a randomized controlled clinical trial and shown to increase a quitter’s chances by almost 30 percent. For more information, visit www.CommittedQuitters.com

Phone counseling

GSK offers smoking cessation counselors to counsel patients five days a week by calling 1-877-NO ASHES in the U.S.

About GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is one of the world’s largest over-the-counter consumer healthcare products companies. Its more than 30 well-known brands include the leading smoking cessation products, Nicorette ®, NicoDerm ® and Commit ®, NiQuitin and Nicabate , as well as many medicine cabinet staples such as Abreva ®, Aquafresh ®, Sensodyne ® and Tums ®. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare continues to develop innovative products to help all smokers find their best support system and achieve their goal of being cigarette free.

About GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare companies. GlaxoSmithKline is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.

NOTE: GlaxoSmithKline distributes Nicorette ® gum, Nicoderm ® patch and Commit ® lozenge the United States. Outside of the U.S., its smoking cessation patch and lozenge are marketed as Nicabate® in Australia and NiQuitin ® in other countries.

For more information, please visit the attached link www.publicaster.com/info/GSK/smoke_free/index.html

Contact Information

Malesia Dunn

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare

GlaxoSmithKline

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