Emsam (selegiline), produced by Somerset Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Meyers Squibb, is an antidepressant patch approved by the USFDA in February 2006.

However, Selegiline may also help smokers combat the cravings they feel when they are trying to quit.

In that context, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine researchers will test whether the selegiline patch could help smokers quit and increase their chances of staying smoke-free for good.

To be led by Joel Killen, PhD, professor of medicine at Stanford is seeking smokers between the ages of 18 and 65 who are interested in quitting. The selected participants will wear a patch on their skin that delivers either selegiline or a placebo and will put on a new patch each day for eight weeks while trying to quit smoking.

Interested participants (should currently be smoking at least 10 cigarettes a day) should contact study coordinator Dalea Fong at (866) 218-7848 or email stanfordstopsmoking@lists.stanford.edu.

The study, which will run for four years, is being funded by The National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Find more details from the press release.