Imperial Brands is set to launch this month a new vaping device in the U.S. and the U.K. with the same nicotine formulation as Juul, reports Bloomberg citing Imperial’s Chief Executive Officer Alison Cooper.
The new vaping device can reportedly be used with existing Imperial’s MyBlu systems.
Cooper described the type of experience Juul delivered as “a step forward,’’ adding smokers were not switching to vaping completely earlier because the experience wasn’t satisfying enough.
Cooper also said that to cut production costs in next-generation products (NGPs), Imperial will reduce the number of components in its MyBlu vaping device and automate production.
She expects returns from NGPs to make a “significant step forward’’ in 2020.
The government of Ontario, Canada, has decided to delay the implementation of changes to the Smoke Free Ontario Act while it examines vaping issues that the proposed changes had raised, reports The Toronto Sun.
The changes were to have come into effect on July 1.
“The government will work with the public, experts and businesses to re-examine the evidence related to vaping as a smoking cessation tool to ensure that any changes are in the best interests of everyone and protect Ontarians’ health and safety,” Simon Jefferies, a spokesman for the recently-elected Premier, Doug Ford, was quoted as having said in an email to the Sun.
“The current provisions in the Smoke Free Ontario Act and the Electronic Cigarettes Act remain in effect and will continue to be enforced.”
Artuso explained that the previous provincial Liberal Government, under former-premier Kathleen Wynne, had planned to replace the Smoke-Free Ontario Act and Electronic Cigarettes Act with a single new version of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act covering both tobacco and vaping.
The new legislation would have banned vaping everywhere smoking is disallowed, and expanded the prohibition zone to outdoor restaurants, bar patios, and around schools or children and youth recreational facilities.
The same strict rules for selling tobacco would have applied to vaping products.
Vapor Advocates of Ontario issued a statement praising the Government’s actions.
And Shaun Casey, president of the Canadian Vaping Association, was quoted as saying the provincial regulations needed to align with Health Canada’s stance on vaping as a less harmful alternative to smoking to ensure the industry was clear on the legal expectations from both levels of governments.
The Indonesian Government has delayed from July 1 to October 1 the imposition of a 57 percent tax on e-liquids manufactured before July, reports The Jakarta Post.
“We cannot implement the regulation starting on July 1 because there are many users,” the Finance Ministry’s technical and excise director, Nugroho Wahyu, was quoted as having told the tribunnews.com.
“We told the vendors they are allowed to sell e-liquid without the additional tax until October 1.”
The delay applies only to e-liquids produced before July – presumably, July 1.
Liquids produced after that date will be subject to the 57 percent tax burden.
The Finance Ministry’s Customs and Excise Directorate General has estimated that the revenue from the e-liquids tax will amount to Rp5-6 trillion annually.
The Customs office has estimated that, this year, revenue from the e-liquids tax will reach about Rp200 billion.
People in the US who have quit smoking by using vapor products are being offered the opportunity to submit sworn statements about their quitting to help forestall bans or restrictions on flavored e-liquids – and, thereby, allow current and future smokers the chance of taking the same route to quitting.
In a blog last week, Brad Rodu, who is a professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville and who holds an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research, noted that a year and a half ago, he had blogged about government agencies ignoring federal survey data showing that 2.5 million former smokers were current vapers.
Rodu said that when the Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco-center director Mitch Zeller dismissed this evidence as mere “anecdotal reports”, he – Rodu – had argued that such data constituted legitimate population-level evidence.
Rodu went on to say that, in aiming to build a fresh dataset on smokers’ success in using vapor as a quitting aid, the Vapor Technology Association and Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives had recently launched a national campaign called I Am Not An Anecdote.
‘The groups are asking vapers to submit to the FDA detailed, sworn statements to “encourage Congress and federal regulators to reject any proposal that would ban OR limit flavored e-liquid products”, said Rodu. ‘The groups note that FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has said that your “personal stories are important to me”. But, he also refers to your stories of quitting cigarettes with vapor products as “anecdotes”.’
Rodu admitted that, in scientific terminology, individual cases were anecdotal, but said that their cumulative value was considerable.
‘FDA should give weight to published studies, even when they do not conform to visions of a tobacco-free society,’ he said. ‘The agency should also recognize the scientific value of mass declarations of smoking cessation accomplished through vaping substitution.’
Imperial Brands Ventures, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands, said on Thursday that it had taken an equity stake in Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies (OCT).
‘OCT is a biopharmaceutical company focused on researching, developing, and licensing cannabinoid-based compounds and therapies,’ Imperial Brands said in a note on its website.
‘Its activities are licensed for operation by the UK Home Office.’
photo: Jeremynathan | Dreamstime
Matthew Phillips, Imperial Brands’ chief development officer, was quoted as saying that Imperial was pleased to be partnering with OCT.
“Cannabinoid products have significant potential and our investment enables Imperial to support OCT’s important research while building a deeper understanding of the medical cannabis market.”
An industry coalition of vape companies has announced the launch of a grassroots cause campaign titled #Fight4Flavor, which aims to encourage adult vapers to share their personal, thoughtful and compelling comments on how e-liquid flavored products have helped them transition from smoking.
The campaign was created in response to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inquiry that could potentially limit or ban certain types of e-liquid products. The FDA is seeking comments, data, research results or other information on topics relating to e-liquid flavoring, such as how flavors allegedly attract youth to tobacco products. All comments must be submitted by July 19, 2018.
“Vaping has allowed me the opportunity to get back in shape so that I can be an active participant in life instead of being on the sidelines,” Christopher Boone, a 33-year-old vaper from New York, commented on the FDA’s website about the proposed rulemaking.
“Flavor and choice of flavors had provided me the number one reason for not going back to cigarettes.”
The coalition introducing the campaign, which is being led by the Global Vaping Standards Association (GVSA) includes industry partners such as AVAIL Vapor, Charlie’s Chalk Dust, Mama’s, SMOK, The Drip Club, Vaporesso, Midwest Distribution, My Vapor Store and Vapor Authority.
The #Fight4Flavor is a multi-touch campaign that will engage adult vapers via various marketing means that will include printed educational materials, emails, social media, news stories, digital assets and branded clothing to build awareness of this initiative and encourage vapers to comment on the FDA’s website.
“The industry leaders of this coalition are all committed to advocating for vapers’ rights and their right to choose flavored e-liquids while also following strict regulations to keep vape products out of the hands of minors,” said Maggie Gowen, executive director of GVSA.
According to the FDA’s website, potential regulatory actions on vapor flavoring include, but are not limited to, tobacco product standards and restrictions on sale and distribution of tobacco products with flavors.
“Today over 400,000 people have made a comment, and through our combined resources, we have the ability to reach over two million additional vapers,” Gowen said. “For adult consumers, flavoring is what helped them transition from smoking to vaping. For the manufacturers and retailers, it’s their livelihood. We have to champion an endeavor that protects all of these groups in an effort towards harm reduction.”
Vaping helps people stop smoking – and can even encourage them to quit when they aren’t looking to do so, according to new research from the UK’s University of East Anglia (UAE).
In a piece on the eurekalert.org website, the University said its study had shown that smokers who switched to vaping might be better able [than those using other quit methods] to stay smoke-free in the long term.
It had shown, too, that even people who weren’t looking to stop smoking had eventually quit because they found vaping more enjoyable than smoking.
“E-cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than tobacco smoking, and they are now the most popular aid to quitting smoking in the UK,” said lead researcher Dr. Caitlin Notley of the UEA’s Norwich Medical School.
“However, the idea of using e-cigarettes to stop smoking, and particularly long-term use, remains controversial.”
The research team carried out in-depth interviews with 40 vapers and, in doing so, found that vaping might support long-term smoking abstinence.
“Not only does it substitute many of the physical, psychological, social and cultural elements of cigarette smoking, but it is pleasurable in its own right, as well as convenient and cheaper than smoking,” said Notley. “Our study group also felt better in themselves – they noticed better respiratory function, taste and smell.
“But the really interesting thing we found was that vaping may also encourage people who don’t even want to stop smoking, to eventually quit.”
While most of the sample group reported long histories of tobacco smoking and multiple previous quit attempts, a minority (17 percent) said they enjoyed smoking and had never seriously attempted to quit.
“These were our accidental quitters,” said Dr Notley. “They hadn’t intended to quit smoking and had tried vaping on a whim, or because they had been offered it by friends. They went on to like it, and only then saw it as a potential substitute for smoking.”
“Many people talked about how they saw vaping …as a no pressure approach to quitting,” she said.
Madvapes has acquired 15 new U.S. stores in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
“We’re very excited to announce the acquisition of 15 new stores, cementing our reputation for being the true experts in electronic cigarettes,” said Mark Hoogendoorn, founder of Madvapes.
“Over recent years, the e-cigarette market has grown significantly, with millions of users turning to vapes, including those who are trying to quit traditional smoking. This is an ever-growing market and we’re proud to have become one of the leading providers of electronic cigarette products and accessories in the U,S. and beyond.
“Our goal is to deliver the best possible customer service experience, whilst bringing new and exciting products to market. This latest expansion will help us to achieve our aim of making our products as accessible as possible, in locations that are convenient for all of our customers.”
Originally established in July 2009 in Mooresville, North Carolina, Madvapes was started from a home office but soon expanded into a garage, then a rented warehouse space, and, finally, a 10,000 square foot warehouse space.
Having successfully positioned itself as the largest online vape store, Madvapes opened its first bricks and mortar store in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2013. With the acquisition of 15 new stores, the brand now has 107 stores in total.
KT&G’s new heat-not-burn vaporizer, Lil Plus, is showing strong early sales and may draw in customers who have used rival products that are due for updates, reports Yonhap News Agency, quoting industry officials.
Lil Plus is estimated to have sold 150,000 units within the first month of its launch on May 23. This is about triple the one-month sales tally of the Lil, its predecessor, after its release in November last year.
Lil can be used multiple times on a single full charge. The Plus version weighs less and has improved heating and cleaning systems.
South Korea’s heat-not-burn cigarette market is presently dominated by Philip Morris International’s iQOS, which sold 1.9 million units after its market debut in June last year.
Industry officials say iQOS customers may well switch to the Lil Plus.
Juul Labs has appointed Gerald F. Masoudi as chief legal officer, effective July 9, 2018. In his new role, Masoudi will be responsible for the company’s global legal strategy and will report to Juul’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Burns. Masoudi will be based in the company’s Washington D.C. office.
Since 2015, Masoudi has served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Celgene Corporation. He previously served as chief counsel (2007-09) and principal deputy/acting chief counsel (2004-05) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In those roles, Masoudi supervised agency litigation and advised the FDA’s senior leadership on regulatory and enforcement matters.
“Jerry is a renowned legal expert in FDA regulation and life sciences, and I am honored to welcome him to the Juul Labs team,” said Burns. “Juul Labs is incredibly fortunate to benefit from his knowledge and experience as we work with the medical community, public health officials, regulators and community leaders to address the tremendous potential of e-cigarettes.”
“I am thrilled to join Juul Labs and contribute to the Company’s important mission to eliminate combustible cigarette smoking,” said Masoudi. “I believe vapor technology has great promise, and I look forward to collaborating with key stakeholders to provide an alternative for adult smokers around the world.”
In addition to his time working for the FDA, from 2009-2015, Masoudi was a partner and co-chair of the food and drug practice at the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling, where he advised FDA-regulated companies on a wide range of regulatory and litigation matters. Masoudi also served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was responsible for international, policy and appellate matters. Masoudi also practiced for a decade as a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis and Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott.
Masoudi earned a B.A. in economics from Amherst College in 1990 and a J.D. with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 1993.
