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We acknowledge the proposition raised by Dr Rose that a comparison of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and varenicline using equal pre-cessation treatment regimens may result in different efficacy outcomes from those found in our trial. However, we would like to reiterate that our open-label comparison of varenicline with NRT was a pragmatic trial based on current treatment regimen recommendations by the manufacturers of the products and in accordance with current recommendations for transdermal NRT use in established health guidelines.1 2
Dr Rose suggests that the imbalance in pre-cessation treatment between products in our trial reflects a flaw in the design of our study. The objective of this study was to compare …
Footnotes
Competing interests: H-JA has received sponsorship to attend scientific meetings, speaker honoraria and consultancy fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Pierre-Fabre Sante, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck-Lipha and Pfizer. AB has received sponsorship to attend scientific meetings, speaker honoraria and consultancy fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Pfizer. In the past 5 years JRB has received consultancy fees from Xenova and Novartis and his employing institution has received consultancy fees and honoraria on his behalf from Pfizer. CO has received honoraria and consulting fees from Pfizer; nicotine and placebo products for research studies at no cost from GlaxoSmithKline; and honoraria from Pri-Med and CME outfitters. CBB, JG, KEW and KRR are employees of Pfizer.