Unrivaled Transformation

Two leading tobacco companies present their most advanced next-generation products in the U.K.

By George Gay

Within the space of two weeks in February, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris Limited (PM Limited) each held a launch party for their latest U.K.-market vapor products, and it seemed to me that there was something particularly significant about these events. Firstly, the products’ advanced technologies and contemporary aesthetics spoke volumes about the huge research, design and development efforts that have gone into producing and refining them.

Secondly, the confidence displayed by the two companies seemed to speak volumes about their belief both in the products they were displaying and the rightness of the radical new directions their businesses are taking—from smoke to vapor. One of the panels of a static display at the PM event brought me up short. It was headed “The smoking problem.

The industry has come a long way and, although no sensible person would argue that the journey from smoke to vapor has been easy, is nearly completed or will be smooth sailing from now on, these companies deserve credit for having been willing to publicly recognize that the products they have traditionally offered add up to a problem and to invest heavily in coming up with a solution, or at least, so far, a partial solution to that problem.

In fact, it’s worth dwelling on that for a moment, I believe, because while the tobacco industry comes in for some well-deserved criticism, I cannot think of another consumer products industry that has undergone or is undergoing such a transformation. Of course, many will say that no other industry has such a toxic product to transform away from, but that’s not entirely true. Interviewed recently by The Guardian’s Amy Fleming, David Nutt, a professor and the director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit at Imperial College London, said that alcohol is so toxic it should be banned. Nutt has apparently invented a healthy synthetic alcohol, so it will be interesting to see whether the alcoholic beverage industry embraces it.

Perhaps one day we will all be able to go down the pub for some guilt-free celebrations on synthetic alcohol and vapor. But in the meantime, at least the tobacco and nicotine industries have something to celebrate. Speaking at the company’s Feb. 13 launch event, BAT U.K.’s general manager, Gemma Webb, said the tobacco industry was entering the most dynamic period of change it had ever encountered. “We are experiencing an extraordinary, once-in-a-generation coming-together of societal change, public health awareness and, crucially, access to technological innovation in the nicotine category,” she said. “This convergence of factors has created a unique opportunity for the industry and our business: the opportunity to make a substantial leap forward in our ambition to provide our consumers with a choice of potentially reduced risk-tobacco and nicotine products.”

The event included the launch of the newest iterations of BAT’s Vype electronic cigarettes, the Vype iSwitch and iSwitch Maxx, where much of the focus was on the introduction of the company’s Puretech vaping technology. Instead of the coil and wick that is traditionally associated with electronic cigarettes, Puretech incorporates an ultra-slim, stainless steel blade that heats the e-liquid to create vapor. “The blade, which is around the thickness of a human hair, has a surface area 10 times larger than a traditional coil and wick heating system,” BAT wrote in a press note that was handed out at the event. “The blade provides a much more precise and measured way to heat the e-liquid, increasing consumer taste satisfaction by ensuring a smoother, richer and more consistent vape, with no off-notes.” Puretech is being incorporated in both the Vype iSwitch and Vype iSwitch Maxx, the latter of which is said to be BAT’s most interactive and connected vapor device.

And, of course, there is more development to come. Brief mention was made at the Feb. 13 launch event of BAT’s announce the day before that it had entered into a new global partnership with British automotive manufacturer McLaren that the company said was rooted in advanced technology and innovation. “The multiyear partnership is focused on accelerating its transforming tobacco agenda, at the heart of which is its commitment to providing a portfolio of potentially reduced-risk products (PRRPs), which can deliver a ‘better tomorrow’ for its consumers,” the press note said.

OFF-NOTES

This all sounds well and good, but it has to be acknowledged that not everybody is going to be celebrating. There are people within the tobacco control sector who, understandably, will look with disdain on the idea that the tobacco industry is once more in party mood when looking to the future. These people will be aware that the tobacco industry didn’t suddenly see the light, as some would have us believe. But the simple truth is that, switching smokers of combustible cigarettes from risky to less-risky products is proving to be one of those areas where the market is best at sorting things out, and that is because the interests of consumers and the interests of the marketers have been brought into alignment.

The tobacco control community needs to accept that what the vapor side of the industry is doing is helping smokers. Certainly, the tobacco control sector should not try to pour cold water on the vapor movement by spreading lies and publishing unscientific papers just because it doesn’t like the tobacco industry, which seems to be happening. There are people opposed to tobacco who, by concentrating their fire on the vapor industry, are seemingly starting to forget that the original aim was to rid the world of cigarettes. They seem to be coming close to promoting combustible cigarettes.

Fortunately, there are health experts who think differently. In March, it was left to Michael Siegel, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health’s department of community health sciences, to point out that a proposed ban on e-cigarettes in San Francisco, California, USA, didn’t make a whole lot of sense when combustible cigarettes would remain on retailers’ shelves. Two San Francisco officials had introduced bills that would ban the sale of electronic cigarettes in the city until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had evaluated their effect on public health. Siegel responded by pointing out that tobacco cigarettes have already had their safety tests and have failed miserably.

He also questioned why the city didn’t take combustible cigarettes off the shelves. Of course, Siegel has been around long enough to know exactly why such cigarettes are not being taken off the shelves, but his question is interesting because it mirrors one often asked of tobacco manufacturers: Instead of trying to switch people to less-risky products, why don’t you stop selling combustible cigarettes? The answer is obvious. I mean, why don’t we dispense with the wheel to prevent people dying in automobile accidents as well as of pollution, which has overtaken smoking as a killer?

The fact is that with most such endeavors, we have to stay focused on harm reduction rather than harm elimination, without dropping that as an ultimate goal. And in this respect, participants at the PM Limited event held on Feb. 26 were given the opportunity to listen to a presentation by Moira Gilchrist, vice president of scientific and public communications at Philip Morris International (PMI), about tobacco harm reduction and the part that PMI is playing in it by developing products underpinned by robust science and research.

The presentation was part of the launch party for the company’s latest range of iQOS heated-tobacco and vapor products. IQOS products were displayed, and there were static presentations explaining, for instance, the timeline of product development from Accord to iIQOS, and why health problems stem from the inhalation of the byproducts of tobacco combustion.

In a press note, PM Limited said that the three new smoke-free iQOS devices that were on display at the event are the company’s most advanced to date and have been designed to make it easy for smokers to switch away from combustible cigarettes completely. According to PM Limited’s managing director, Peter Nixon, the new products have been specifically designed to give every one of the U.K.’s 7.4 million smokers a way to stop “burning tobacco.” “We are confident that our new IiQOS range provides the solutions needed to help all U.K., smokers move away from cigarettes,” he said.

One of the devices presented at the launch was the iQOS3, which was described as being the latest version of the tobacco-heating device and features a longer battery life, faster charging and a more ergonomic design. The iQOS Multi, meanwhile, was described as being a new, more compact tobacco-heating device that was designed to provide a different experience to that of PMI’s other devices. With iQOS Multi, consumers could use 10 back-to-back tobacco sticks before needing to charge the device.

The iQOS Mesh, who first market is the U.K., was said to be a premium vapor product that uses a replaceable pod containing nicotine e-liquid. It, too, has replaced the traditional “coil and wick,” in this case with a mesh. The German-made mesh heater, which is 16 microns thick, is said to provide 1,332 tiny holes that allow e-liquid to flow and be heated evenly for a consistent vape experience every time. The heat control technology heats the e-liquid in less than 0.1 second after the user begins to puff on the device and applies precise heating cut-off to avoid liquid condensation. In addition, smart digital controls detect when e-liquid levels are low, thus avoiding overheating and a burnt taste.