The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will investigate Altria and Philip Morris after a complaint was filed by R.J. Reynolds. The ITC will look into certain tobacco heating elements and components.
The ITC has not made a decision on the case but has said it will make its “final determination … at the earliest practicable time.”
Cannabis Technology House (CTH) is launching QUB, a heat-not-burn product that can contains cannabis flower or tobacco leaf.
According to Greg Kunin, CTH’s co-founder and chief product officer, the product does not have to be cleaned because the heater is replaced with each new consumable.
The difference between QUB and other vape pens is that the user consumes a product that is pre-packaged dry material in a cube-shaped piece. Most vape pens come as a reusable hardware device, but the consumer typically adds an oil cartridge to one end or it comes prepackaged with an oil cartridge. The result is that the consumer inhales an oil that is extracted from the original dry material.
While QUB was originally conceived as mostly a cannabis product, the crossover between tobacco and cannabis provides consumers flexibility. Cigarette smokers could use their QUB device for both tobacco and cannabis.
CTH was created by former Altria employees who worked with an Israeli R&D group that patented this concept.
The company has received $1 million from private investors to further develop QUB.
Altria CEO Howard Willard has stepped down after nearly 30 years with the company. He is currently recovering from Covid-19.
Billy Gifford, chief financial officer, will assume the CEO position permanently. Gifford was standing in as interim CEO while Willard was out on medical leave.
Altria is separating the roles of CEO and chairman; Thomas Farrell, the board’s former independent presiding director, has been appointed chairman.
Salvatore Mancuso, Altria’s finance and procurement vice president, has been appointed as chief financial officer to replace Gifford.