Charlotte’s Web Holdings, a supplier of cannabidiol (CBD) hemp extract wellness products, has appointed Jonathan P. Atwood to the company’s board of directors, according to PR Newswire. Atwood is currently the group head of business communications for BAT and is responsible for BAT’s external, internal and corporate brand communications. Atwood was designated as a board nominee by BAT in connection with its November purchase of convertible debenture in Charlotte’s Web.
Atwood held senior management positions at Unilever, most recently leading global supply chain communications. Prior to that, he led sustainability and corporate communications for Unilever North America. Atwood is an advocate of sustainability and has worked closely with B Corps companies.
Charlotte’s Web is the only publicly traded CBD B Corp-certified company.
“We welcome Jonathan as a valuable addition to the board where he can support our international and sustainability ambitions. We look forward to working closely together on our mutually shared interests,” said John Held, chairman of the board of Charlotte’s Web.
Atwood’s appointment brings the total number of directors on the Charlotte’s Web board to six.
Last year, Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc. became the first company to score a CBD sponsorship with Major League Baseball.
The new director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco science division is Matthew Farrelly, former chief scientist and director of the Center for Health Analytics, Media, and Policy for RTI International.
In an announcement, The FDA’s Center of Tobacco Products (CTP) stated that Farrelly’s extensive work in the field of tobacco and nicotine science for more than 25 years, and being recognized internationally as an expert with proven leadership and organizational management skills will help him succeed as the director of the CTP’s Office of Science.
“He has led or been involved with numerous scientific endeavors related to tobacco control policies and regulatory approaches, including those related to graphic health warning labels, excise taxes, smoke-free policies, quitlines, state tobacco control programs, retail advertising, and flavored tobacco products,” the release states. “He has also extensively researched the influence of mass reach health campaigns, including FDA’s The Real Cost.”
Farrelly also has authored or co-authored over 120 articles in peer-reviewed scientific literature, which have been cited over 10,000 times. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Farrelly will replace Matt Holman, who left the position last year to Philip Morris International. Holman was hired in 2017 and took over for David Ashley.
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) reporter Alex Norcia is leaving Filter magazine “and [departing] from journalism,” he wrote.
Norcia has written for Filter for the past two years, and he wrote for Vice before that. He is taking a role at Altria as a senior manager for regulatory advocacy, according to his Twitter post.
“I will remain involved in THR,” Norcia wrote. He broke the story about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Fatal Flaw” standard as well as dug into synthetic nicotine before the topic caught fire.
“Reflecting on the events I’ve reported for the better part of four years leaves me with a sense of just how fast the news moves. But it can get, unfortunately, repetitive,” he wrote about his experiences. He cited cyclical news like flavor bans that have spread across states and the impacts of such laws.
He noted his favorite moments as well, detailing a well-rounded career in THR reporting.
“Now, like everybody else, I’ll be waiting to see if the FDA bans menthol combustibles or lowers the nicotine levels in cigarettes or ever authorizes a flavored nicotine vaping product (even menthol),” he wrote. “Or whether, on the world stage, more countries will follow pathways like the United Kingdom, Sweden or Japan—or, conversely, prohibition-oriented responses like India, Taiwan and Mexico.
“I don’t know the answers to these questions. Like other observers in this rapidly evolving field, I’ve never been able to predict the future. But I’ll still be doing what I can to address the present.”
Turning Point Brands announced the appointment of long-tenured company executive Graham Purdy as CEO and board director, effective October 16, 2022, following Yavor Efremov’s resignation as CEO and director.
Additionally, David Glazek will transition from non-executive to executive board chairman, effective January 2023, according to a press release.
Purdy will lead TPB’s strategy, execution, and operations, with a particular focus on growing and maximizing the value of the company’s portfolio of iconic and emerging brands. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Purdy served as chief operating officer since 2019.
Purdy previously led day-to-day operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, managing through complex challenges to the business while completing three of the most successful years in the company’s history.
“I am excited to serve as Turning Point’s next CEO and drive the company’s strategic priorities to enhance shareholder value,” said Purdy. “Over the past three decades, Turning Point has built a leading industry position through our portfolio of large and leading brands, innovative marketing, and omni-channel distribution capabilities, along with our strong track record of new product innovation.
“I look forward to working with our highly talented team to continue to build a world-class consumer products company for the benefit of our employees, customers, and shareholders.”
Cristine Delnevo, director of the Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies and a professor of Health Behavior, Society and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health, has been appointed chairperson of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC). Her appointment as chair will run through Jan. 31, 2025.
Delnevo was appointed to serve on the committee in March 2021. Established in 2009, TPSAC reviews and evaluates safety, dependence and health issues related to tobacco products and provides advice, information and recommendations to the FDA’s commissioner. The FDA commissioner selects the committee members from among people with expertise in medicine, medical ethics, science or technology involving the manufacture, evaluation or use of tobacco products.
“I have valued the importance of this FDA advisory committee since the signing of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009,” said Delnevo in a press note published by Rutgers. “This advisory committee plays an important role in several ways, perhaps most notably on the review of modified risk tobacco product applications, as required under the Tobacco Control Act.”
Delnevo’s expertise spans population-level tobacco behavior trends, particularly non-cigarette tobacco products like cigars and e-cigarettes, tobacco control policy and regulation, and survey methods research.
Gregory Conley, a longtime advocate for the vaping industry and founder of the American Vaping Association (AVA), is joining the American Vapor Manufacturers Association (AVM) as its director of Legislative and External Affairs.
“Over the last decade-plus, myself and millions of American adults have given up cigarettes because of vaping,” said Conley. “During that time, I have been proud to advocate for vaping from the perspective of a consumer and harm reductionist. In this new role at AVM, I will continue to push for appropriate regulations to ensure that American businesses are not replaced with a multibillion-dollar illicit market. I look forward to helping grow AVM alongside Amanda and her board.”
His role with the AVM will be to advance public policy supporting the American vaping product industry in its fight for survival, according to press release. Conley, who has led the AVA as its president since 2014, will focus his efforts on government and media relations under the direction of AVM President Amanda Wheeler.
“Gregory is a critical voice for vaping and understands adult smokers and ex-smokers face dire circumstances because of the FDA,” said Wheeler. “One billionaire is pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns designed to end the vaping industry. The stakes have never been greater and I am thrilled to have him aboard to work towards a unified industry.”
Conley has a long history of advocacy for vaping products and tobacco harm reduction, dating back to 2010. While receiving a la and business degree from Rutgers University, Conley served as the pro bono legislative director for the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association.
Conley then founded the AVA, and during his time there he testified before dozens of state legislative bodies, appeared on numerous news networks, and participated in a White House listening session with then-President Donald Trump. Conley plans to continue working with AVA as it charts a new path forward focusing on voter education and outreach.
Kaival Brands Innovations Group Founder and CEO Nirajkumar Patel will transition to chief science and regulatory officer. Eric Mosser, the company’s current chief operating officer, will become president and remain COO. Mosser will serve as the company’s principal executive officer for purposes of its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Patel will remain on the board of directors for Kaival Brands.
The management changes follow the company’s recently announced international licensing agreement with Philip Morris Products (PMP) on June 13, 2022.
The agreement grants to PMP a license of certain intellectual property rights relating to Bidi Vapor’s premium electronic nicotine delivery system (END”) device, the Bidi Stick, in the U.S., as well as potentially newly developed devices, to permit PMP to manufacture, promote, sell and distribute such ENDS device and newly developed devices, in markets outside of the U.S.
“What Mr. Patel has accomplished, from initial concept to an international distribution agreement with Philip Morris is extraordinary,” said Mosser in a statement. “With unwavering belief and integrity, he established himself as a true visionary within the vaping category.
Mr. Patel has been both inventor and salesman, developing a product and everything that goes around it to make it successful. We have grown from a no-name brand to the No. 1-selling self-contained disposable ENDS device in the U.S based on the Nielsen retail sales data for the 52-week period ending June 4, 2022, according to a recent Goldman Sachs’ Equity Research Report.”
The transition will allow Patel to focus on developing new products and expanding the Bidi Vapor product portfolio, which is directly related to the new agreement with PMP, and allow Mosser to focus on expanding sales distribution channels and increasing the revenues and profits of Kaival Brand.
“My passion for the business is in creating, designing and delivering new products for adult tobacco users to the market,” said Patel. “Mr. Mosser understands the core values, mission and goals of the Company, and I am confident he will take Kaival Brands to new levels.”
The management changes are effective immediately, with roles and responsibilities to transfer over the coming weeks.
Brian King will replace Mitch Zeller as head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). He will take over the position on July 3 after spending more than a decade at the Centers for Disease Control.
King was most recently the Deputy Director for Research Translation in the Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“After a robust executive search, I have selected Dr. Brian A. King as FDA’s new Center for Tobacco Products Director,” Califf tweeted. “Dr. King brings extensive and impressive expertise in tobacco prevention and control and has broad familiarity with FDA from his more than 10-year tenure at CDC.”
The move comes just days after the FDA submitted a status report for products that currently have a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) under review. The regulatory agency states that it expects to have resolved 63 percent of the applications set out in its original priority by June 30, 2022, and 72 percent of the applications in its original priority set by the end of this year. However, the agency does not expect to complete its review of timely submitted applications until June, 2023.
During a House subcommittee meeting after the release of the report, Califf said the agency needs more resources to speed up its review of e-cigarettes and is avoiding making hasty decisions that could incite lawsuits from the industry.
“This is an industry that has amazing capabilities on the legal front,” Califf said. “If we make one single error in the process, we can be set back for years in these applications.”
Many vaping industry leaders say they are discouraged by the announcement and that “there is no longer any hope for flavored products other than tobacco.”
Matt Meyers, the controversial leader of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and an anti-nicotine advocate, called King a “legend” and an “icon.”
In his role at the CDC, King was responsible for providing scientific leadership and technical expertise to CDC/OSH, the lead federal agency for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control. King joined the CDC in 2010 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, before which he worked as a Research Affiliate in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. During his time at Roswell Park, his primary research focus related to tobacco prevention and control.
King has worked for over 15 years to provide sound scientific evidence to inform tobacco control policy and to effectively communicate this information to key stakeholders, including decision makers, the media, and the general public.
He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles pertaining to tobacco prevention and control, was a contributing author to the 50th Anniversary Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, was the lead author of CDC’s 2014 update to the evidence-based state guide, “Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs,” and was the senior associate editor of the 2016 Surgeon General’s Report, “E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults” and the 2020 Surgeon General’s Report, “Smoking Cessation.”
He was also the Senior Official for CDC’s emergency response to the 2019 outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).
King holds a PhD and MPH in Epidemiology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. King will replace Zeller who retired in April. There has not been an official announcement from the FDA.
Turning Point Brands has hired former Cronos executive, Summer Frein, as its Chief Marketing Officer. Effective immediately, Frein is responsible for driving Turning Point Brands’ marketing strategy across the company’s extensive brand portfolio.
Yavor Efremov, president and CEO of Turning Point Brands
“As Turning Point Brands continues to transform into a more diversified consumer packaged goods company, Summer’s vast experience leading the planning, strategic development and execution for notable consumer brands will be extremely valuable,” said Yavor Efremov, president and CEO of Turning Point Brands. “I look forward to working closely with Summer as she helps our team to improve our differentiated, world-class brands’ profile and consumer acceptance.”
Frein previously served as general manager at Cronos Group where she designed and implemented the company’s sales and marketing strategy, according to a press release. Frein also previously led Cronos Group’s U.S. brand sales operations, including building and managing brand and retail partnerships for the Lord Jones and Happy Dance brands.
Prior to joining Cronos Group, Frein held a variety of senior leadership roles at Altria Group, Inc., across sales, digital and brand marketing, strategy and business development. Notably, in 2018, she led Altria’s cannabis research investment initiative as part of Altria’s strategy and business development group.
Credit Momius
“Over the course of my 15-year career, I have worked with leading adult-use consumer brands on many different sides of the business and watched Turning Point Brands evolve into the leading Company that it is today,” said Frein. “This new opportunity will allow me to work with the dynamic team at Turning Point Brands to develop a long-term marketing strategy and help to fully unlock the value of the Company’s iconic Zig-Zag and Stoker’s brands.”
Daniel P. McGee has joined Keller and Heckman’s expanding tobacco and vapor practice as counsel.
Prior to joining Keller and Heckman, McGee worked as in-house counsel for several multinational tobacco, vapor and CBD companies, where he honed his skills advising on compliance and regulatory issues related to tobacco, vapor, nicotine, hemp, CBD and related products.
McGee has experience counseling companies on a broad range of complex tobacco and U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory matters and developing strategies to help companies bring new products to market.
“Daniel’s expertise and industry perspective will be invaluable to Keller and Heckman clients who are carefully navigating the challenges and pitfalls of a highly regulated and rapidly evolving legal landscape,” said Azim Chowdhury, a Partner in the firm’s tobacco and vapor and food and drug practices.
“In addition to expanding our tobacco and e-vapor capabilities, we are especially looking forward to utilizing Daniel’s expertise in state law compliance, particularly for clients expanding into the hemp and CBD categories.”
“The addition of Daniel to our practice demonstrates Keller and Heckman’s commitment to helping our clients understand and comply with continuously evolving regulations in this growing field,” said Richard Mann, chair of Keller and Heckman’s management committee.
“I am honored to work with Keller and Heckman’s experienced team of tobacco and e-vapor attorneys and to share the corporate perspective with my new colleagues,” said McGee. “After spending the bulk of my legal career as in-house counsel to the tobacco industry, I made a strategic decision to focus on the industry as a whole and join a law firm that is a leader in tobacco regulatory compliance and public policy initiatives.”
McGee received his J.D. degree from the University of Oregon School of Law and his B.A. degree from Boston College, where he graduated with honors.
