Category: Heat-Not-Burn

Poda Prepares to Launch ‘Revolutionary’ HnB Product

Photo: Podya Lifestyle and Wellness
After six years of development, Poda Lifestyle and Wellness is ready to bring its revolutionary HnB product to the masses, according to company founder and CEO Ryan Selby. In a letter to shareholders, Selby detailed recent the company’s recent accomplishments and shared his plans.
Poda was founded in January 2015 with the vision of creating a superior heat-not-burn (HnB) product. The company set out to address a major pain-point in all HnB systems: cleaning. After six years of designing and perfecting the technology, it came up with a product that delivers a robust, flavorful and consistent user experience, according to Selby. “Poda is now essentially the only company in the world that can make a closed-ended HNB cigarette,” he says. Its Beyond Burn pods have been patented in more than 65 countries.
In addition, the company developed a heat-tolerant biodegradable material made from the cell walls of sustainably harvested plants. “This naturally derived and low-cost material allows us to produce our patented Beyond Burn Poda Pods not only incredibly efficiently, but also in an ethical and sustainable manner,” says Selby. Poda has filed for patent protection for the proprietary biodegradable plant cellulose materials used to make its closed-ended HNB cigarettes and the proprietary methods for manufacturing them.
The company’s tobacco-free Beyond Burn Poda Pods contain a proprietary blend of tea leaves and synthetic nicotine that delivers the satisfaction and sensory experience of ordinary smoking without the smoke and without the cleaning.
Recently, Poda executed a binding letter of intent with ESON with the intent of launching its products in China. Earlier this month, tobacco industry veteran Juan Manuel (“Jon”) Ruiz joined Poda’s strategic advisory board. A key top-level executive at Philip Morris International, Luiz was around during the time when PMI was internally developing its heat-not-burn products. “The experience and expertise that Jon brings from the fast-moving consumer goods market is of exceptional value to Poda,” said Selby.

We are now ready to scale our production capacities to virtually any production volume.
Ryan Selby, CEO, Poda
Less than two months ago, Poda listed its shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange and the Frankfurt Securities Exchange, and the company is currently waiting for final approval to have its shares listed on the OTCQB exchange in the U.S. Down the road, the company aims to “uplist” to the NASDAQ and other major global exchanges, according to Selby.
Meanwhile, Poda’s pilot manufacturing plant is fully operational and is turning out over 400,000 closed-ended HNB cigarette units per month. “We built this pilot facility to prove out each of our manufacturing technologies, and I am pleased to report that we are now ready to scale our production capacities to virtually any production volume,” said Selby.
Over the coming months, Poda will be aggressively pursuing distribution and white-labelling opportunities with carefully selected partners in strategic locations around the globe.
“As CEO, it is my responsibility to lead Poda towards our goal of becoming a major player in the global heat-not-burn market,” said Selby. “I know we have a fantastic product, but that on its own is not enough. We must make smart choices and take calculated risks to grow the company as quickly and sustainably as possible.”
June 9, 2021
Study: Impact of HNB No Less Harmful Than Cigarettes

Kuznietsov Dmitriy
The impact on lung cells of heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco products may be no less harmful than that of conventional cigarettes, according to the authors of a small comparative study published by Thorax.
HNB products contain nicotine and tobacco but have been marketed by the tobacco industry as a less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes on the grounds that they don’t produce specific harmful chemicals that are released when tobacco burns.
Smoking heightens the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, and abdominal aortic aneurysm, because it has a role in all stages of artery hardening and blockage. And it causes emphysema and pulmonary hypertension, because it contributes to the damage of blood vessels in the lungs.
Specifically, it contributes to endothelial dysfunction–whereby the lining of small and large blood vessels becomes abnormal, causing arteries to constrict instead of dilating, or blood vessels to become more inflamed; oxidative stress—an excess of harmful cellular by-products; platelet activation–creation of ‘sticky’ blood; and plaque development that can block arteries.
The researchers wanted to find out if these effects could also be observed in people who used HNB products.
So they compared endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and platelet activation in 20 non-smokers (average age 28), 20 long term conventional cigarette smokers (average age 27), and 20 long-term users of HNB products (average age 33).
The conventional smokers had been puffing away for an average of 3.5 years, getting through 13 sticks a day; the HNB users had been getting through around 11 products every day for an average of 5 years.
The findings showed that compared with not smoking, long term use of HNB products was associated with reduced endothelial function and increased oxidative stress and platelet activation.
And there were no significant differences between conventional cigarette smokers and users of HNB products.
This is an observational study, so it can’t establish cause. And the researchers acknowledge several limitations to their findings.
These include the small numbers of study participants involved, the lack of random allocation to each group, and the inability to confirm that a participant wasn’t a dual user of both conventional cigarettes and HNB products.
If confirmed by other large studies, these findings could provide evidence to strongly discourage non-smokers to start using [HNB products].
Lorenzo Loffredo et al.
Nevertheless, they conclude: “If confirmed by other large studies, these findings could provide evidence to strongly discourage non-smokers to start using [HNB products] and to encourage [conventional cigarette] smokers to quit smoking.”In a second linked study, a team of researchers assessed whether the use of HNB products helped Japanese workers to give up tobacco for good.
They offered a smoking cessation program to 158 users of conventional cigarettes (94) alone and/or HNB products (64) between November 2018 and April 2019.
The workplace program included prescription varenicrine or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), counselling, and information about stopping smoking.
The quit rate was logged in August 2019, when 45 (29 percent) of the workers had successfully stopped using all tobacco products.
Those who availed themselves of pharmacological support were more likely to quit than those who didn’t (67 percent vs 11 percent) as were those who received counseling (69 percent vs 21 percent).
Analysis of the results showed that people who used varenicrine or NRT were three times more likely to stop smoking tobacco than those who didn’t.
But those who either used HNB products alone or in addition to conventional cigarettes (dual users) were 23 percent less likely than exclusive cigarette smokers to give up tobacco altogether, after accounting for age, tobacco dependence, previous quit attempts and use of pharmacological support.
This too is an observational study, and the researchers acknowledge that their study was small and restricted to healthy men in just one workplace. Smoking status was also self-reported and assessed at a single time point, and successful quitters weren’t asked how long they had stopped using tobacco.
But they point out that those who used HNB products in their study did so because they thought they were less harmful than conventional cigarettes.
“It is possible that the rhetorical phrases by tobacco industries attract and make consumers misunderstand that changing from cigarettes to [HNB products] can provide a healthier environment for themselves and their surroundings,” they suggest.
“Although [HNB products] are misunderstood to be less harmful, they expose users and bystanders to toxicants, and the evidence does not show that [they] will reduce tobacco-related diseases,” they add.
“Given that [HNB products] undermine cessation among smokers without providing health benefits, [they] should not be recommended for any purpose,” they conclude.
In a linked editorial, covering both research papers, Professor Irina Petrache of National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado, and Esther de Boer of University of Colorado, agree.
“[Both] reports provide impetus to conduct larger randomized validating studies and to assess the impact of [HNB products] on additional health parameters. Their work enriches the mounting evidence that [HNB products] are not safer than [conventional cigarettes], suggesting that any tobacco use should be strongly discouraged,” they write.
April 22, 2021
New Report Explores China’s Heated Tobacco Market

Photo: David Mark from Pixabay
Research and Markets has published a new report on the world’s largest potential market for heat-not-burn (HNB) products, China.
The report provides an overview of China National Tobacco Corp. (CNTC) subsidiaries’ HNB marketing activities from 2017 to 2020.
The report reviews all HNB products that were officially released in domestic and foreign markets as well as cooperation ties in the Chinese HNB market.
China Tobacco has a market of 300 million smokers with a significant part active HNB users. The domestic HNB sector is dominated by CNTC. It has launched HNB products in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong, Anhui, Hubei, Heilongjiang and other provinces, and has been actively engaged in overseas markets. CNTC HNB brands are presented in many foreign markets, mostly in Asia countries and eastern Europe.
Most HNB devices are promoted with dedicated consumables. HNB devices are either produced at own facilities of CNTC subsidiaries or are OEM versions developed by third-party manufacturers. The CNTC subsidiaries with the largest number of HNB devices in the domestic market are based in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangdong.
The report includes a brief review of HNB electronic devices produced in cooperation with major Chinese hardware manufacturers. There is also a brief description of companies engaged in the Chinese HNB market, and a complete list of HNB products with release dates and corresponding references in domestic and foreign markets, a map of presence of CNTC HNB brands in foreign markets and a timeline of CNTC HNB products by release date.
April 21, 2021
BAT Korea will Continue Online Vapor Marketing
Recent successful digital marketing efforts reaffirmed BAT Korea’s plans to reach a wider audience for its lower-risk products by promoting them online, according to a spokesperson during “BAT Innovation Day” on Tuesday.
“Sales promotions for Glo Pro last month took place both online and in-store and it was especially well received online and we managed to sell out the stock we prepared quicker than expected,” said Yu Jung-min, head of offline activation at BAT Korea during the online press event. “Diversifying sales channels gave us an opportunity to rebound from a recent decline.”
The global tobacco company used the event to showcase its focus on innovation. The company also offered an industry-first virtual factory tour during the event, demonstrating the technology behind its manufacturing facility in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, where the company is making its first new product of the year, the KENT Double Fresh, and its heat-not-burn (HnB) products, Glo neo sticks.
When asked about the decision to continue to release regular tobacco products despite the company’s emphasis on its environmental, social and governance approach, Yu said sales of regular tobacco products, which account for most of its sales, are essential to ensuring investment, according to an article in The Korea Herald.
The BAT Sacheon Factory, which opened in 2002, is now home to some 1,000 employees. BAT is the first foreign tobacco company with a production facility in the country, the company said.
Last year, the company announced it is teaming up with LS Electric to introduce solar power generation facilities at its Sacheon factory, with construction poised to begin in March When completed, the factory is expected to generate up to 1,435 kilowatts of electricity through solar power, which will constitute a “remarkable amount of carbon reduction,” the company said.
February 16, 2021
Japan Tobacco to Focus on Heat-not-Burn Products
After forecasting an unexpected slump in profits for this year, Japan Tobacco Inc (JT) said on Tuesday it planned to cut around 1,000 jobs and focus its efforts on winning market share in heat-not-burn (HnB) products such as the Ploom S brand.
Credit: JT
Operating profits for 2021 are expected to fall 23 percent to 363 billion yen ($3.46 billion), compared with the market’s forecast for a slight recovery to 476 billion yen, according to Refinitiv data. JT, despite commanding over half of the domestic cigarette market, has lagged rival Philip Morris in the increasingly popular category of HnB products.
The company said it was looking to cut around 1,000 jobs, offering voluntary and early retirement packages, citing declining sales of conventional cigarettes. At the same time, it said it will bolster investment in what it calls reduced risk products (RRP), including its heat-not-burn Ploom sticks which compete with Philip Morris’ IQOS.
It plans a new heat stick product later this year, aiming to boost its position in Japan, the world’s biggest market for such products as regular e-cigarettes with e-liquids containing nicotine are banned.
“The RRP category in Japan is the most mature and competitive in the world,” JT Group President and CEO Masamichi Terabatake said in a press release. “Reflecting this and the decline of sales volume in recent years… we had to take some difficult yet necessary decisions.”
February 9, 2021
Japan Tobacco to Expand Sales of ‘Ploom TECH+ With’
Japan Tobacco (JT) plans to expand in Japan sales of “Ploom TECH+ with,” the more compact version of JT’s tobacco-infused vapor series, Ploom TECH+. The new device will gradually be available nationwide starting at Ploom shops and select tobacco retail stores from Feb. 1, 2021, along with convenience stores from Feb. 2, 2021.
To commemorate the nationwide expansion, JT is offering a limited time discount for the “Ploom TECH+ with” starter kit.
“After receiving positive feedback from our consumers since its launch last November, we are delighted to announce the nationwide expansion of ‘Ploom TECH+ with,’” said Toru Takahashi, vice president of the marketing group product and brand division for reduced risk products, in a statement.
“While still retaining the features of Ploom TECH+, such as producing less smell than cigarette smoke and not requiring wait time to start or finish using the device, ‘Ploom TECH+ with’ is more compact and easy to use, and we believe our consumers will find this device to enrich their experience than ever before.”
January 13, 2021
Japan Cigarette Sales Down 34% Since Launch of HTPs

Photo: Colleen Williams
Between 2015 and 2019, total cigarette sales in Japan dropped by 34 percent, which can be associated with the commercial launch of heated tobacco products (HTPs), according to a white paper prepared by Frost & Sullivan and Philip Morris International (PMI).
Titled Tobacco Harm Reduction and Novel Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Evidence from the Japanese Market, the report covers the impact of the commercial launch of novel nicotine and tobacco products (NNTPS) on tobacco use in japan and discusses the regulatory approach that the Japanese government is taking with regard to these products. It focuses on the Japanese market because HTPs have been commercially available in the country since 2013, and Japan is the largest market for HTPs, despite the absence of a formal THR policy to encourage this.
“The commercial availability of HTPs in Japan is associated with a significant drop in conventional cigarette sales, well ahead of the previous rate of decline,” explains Mark Dougan, consulting director, healthcare, Frost & Sullivan.
“Moreover, even after HTPs became available, sales of all tobacco products (HTPs and conventional cigarettes) continued to fall. Although there is mixed evidence, data from the 2019 National Health Survey indicates that 76 percent of consumers who use HTPs do so exclusively. Only 24 percent of HTP users maintain dual-use.”
According to Dougan, the Japanese government is differentiating HTPs from conventional cigarettes in regulations such as taxation, health warnings and indoor use restrictions, with HTPs generally receiving less-stringent regulatory settings than conventional cigarettes.
Frost & Sullivan also noted that the availability of HTPs has had a low impact on the initiation of tobacco use by never-smokers and re-initiation by former smokers. In addition, HTPs are also less likely to cause household fires than conventional cigarettes, which are the leading cause of household fires in Japan.
The remarkable recent decline of smoking Japan was also covered during the recent GTNF by Hiroya Kumamaru, a cardiovascular surgeon and vice director of AOI International Hospital in Kawasaki.
December 3, 2020
BAT: Switching to Glo Reduces Exposure
Smokers who switched completely from smoking cigarettes to using British American Tobacco’s (BAT) Glo tobacco-heating product (THP) substantially reduced their exposure to certain cigarette smoke toxicants over three months, according to a company study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

For many of the toxicants measured, the levels found in participants were similar to those in people who stopped using tobacco completely.

BAT scientists are conducting a year-long controlled study to see what impact switching from cigarettes to Glo will have on general health as well as smoke-toxicant exposure.

According to BAT, the study’s results find that smokers who switch from cigarettes to Glo exclusively significantly reduce the levels of harmful toxicants they are exposed to, potentially reducing their risk of developing smoking-related diseases.

“These initial results regarding Glo are extremely encouraging,” James Murphy, group head of potentially reduced-risk product science at BAT, said in a statement. “Glo provides smokers who wish to continue using tobacco and nicotine products with a potentially reduced-risk alternative to cigarettes. The results are another positive step for BAT as we continue our journey to reduce the health impact of our business by offering consumers a range of enjoyable and potentially reduced-risk products.”

November 5, 2020
Ploom S Debuts in the United Kingdom

Photo: JTI
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has launched its Ploom S heated-tobaccodevice in the U.K., reports The Grocer.
The product will be sold through two Ploom-branded lounges in London, Ploompop-up shops, online at www.ploom.co.uk and through accredited retailers.
The device is used with tobacco sticks, which are sold separately. The tobaccosticks will be available in four different flavors—flavored tobacco, smoothtobacco, menthol and menthol/berry. The Ploom S device will have arecommended retail price of £89 ($116.06) and the consumables will have arecommended retail price of £4.50 for a pack of 20 sticks.
“The time is right for JTI to enter this exciting growth segment in the U.K. with aproven product that continues to grow in markets in which we have alreadylaunched,” said JTI U.K. General Manager Dean Gilfillan.
Ploom S is the second tobacco-heating system available in the U.K., after PhilipMorris International’s IQOS, which launched in 2016.
Previously, JTI launched Ploom in Japan, Russia and Italy.
November 5, 2020
Heated Products Help Japan’s Record-Low Smoking Rates

Photo: Colleen Williams
Japan’s smoking rate fell to a record low last year, reports NHK World, citing to a government survey.
The health ministry surveyed about 5,700 people aged 20 or over last November.
The percentage of men and women who regularly smoke stood at 16.7 percent. That’s down 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier, and the lowest since the survey began in 1986.
The ratio for men was 27.1 percent, down 11.1 points over the past decade. The figure for women was 7.6 percent, down 3.3 points over the same period.
During the recent virtual Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum, experts attributed Japan’s rapid decline in traditional smoking to the emergence of heated tobacco products.
Of male smokers who participated in the recent survey, 27.2 percent said they use heated tobacco products, while 25.2 percent of female smokers said they do so.
The health ministry aims to lower the smoking rate to 12 percent by fiscal 2022.
October 30, 2020