Tag: business

  • PMI to Record £220 Million Loss on Vectura Sale

    PMI to Record £220 Million Loss on Vectura Sale

    Image: Aliaksandr Marko

    Philip Morris International expects to record a record loss of about £220 million ($198 million) on the sale of its inhaled-therapeutics Vectura Group unit to Molex Asia Holdings in the third quarter, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing a securities filing.

    On Sept. 17, PMI’s pharmaceutical subsidiary, Vectura Fertin Pharma, announced it would sell its Vectura Group business to Molex. The company acquired Vectura Group in 2021 for $1.24 billion as part PMI’s drive to diversify beyond nicotine.

    The company now says that “unwarranted opposition” to its transformation has affected Vectura Group’s engagement with the scientific community and its commercial relationships.

    The remaining units of Vectura Fertin Pharma will continue to operate under a new corporate identity and develop oral consumer health and wellness offerings, as well as inhaled prescription products for pain management and cardiovascular emergencies.

  • PMI Expands IQOS Iluma in Middle East Region

    PMI Expands IQOS Iluma in Middle East Region

    Philip Morris International has launched IQOS Iluma in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, with a goal of creating a smoke-free future in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, according to the Saudi Gazette.

    “Adult smokers may be unaware of the choices they are making, largely due to the lack of information and knowledge on products that bring them harm, versus scientifically backed products that reduce the likelihood of smoking-related disease,” said Tarkan Demirbas, area vice president of the Middle East at Philip Morris Management Services (Middle East) Limited. “At PMI, we are invested in providing existing adult smokers with better alternatives through harm reduction innovations, which can help them take a step back from cigarettes toward better alternatives.”

    “Smoking-related diseases today call for a pragmatic solution that places consumers at the forefront while moving away from cigarettes,” said Saim Yasin, director of marketing and digital at PMMS. “IQOS Iluma is our latest innovation in tobacco-heating systems that will accelerate our goal toward a smoke-free future. Through a growing portfolio of smoke-free alternatives, we are reaffirming our commitment to create realistic, society-wide change that can reimagine the world we are living in—without cigarettes.”

    The IQOS Iluma series offers three devices: IQOS Iluma Prime, IQOS Iluma and IQOS Iluma One. All the devices use new induction heating technology but offer different designs.

  • Report: China’s ENDS Exports to Reach $27 Million in 2022

    Report: China’s ENDS Exports to Reach $27 Million in 2022

    Credit: Zapp 2 Photo

    The Blue Book of Electronic Cigarette Exports released on Tuesday estimates that the China’s electronic nicotine-delivery product (ENDS) exports will reach 186.7 billion yuan ($27.82 billion) this year, with exports for the first quarter already totaling 45.3 billion yuan.

    According to the Blue Book, produced by the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce, the exports of ENDS in China was 138.3 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 180 percent year-over-year. Among the over 1,500 e-cigarette businesses in China, more than 70 percent are export-oriented.

    The Blue Book counts the scale of China’s ENDS exports in different markets in the first quarter of 2021. Among them, the U.S. market is the largest destination with 58 percent ($73.3 billion), followed by the European Union and Britain, which account for 24 percent ($34 billion), then Russia with 8 percent ($9.7 billion). Southeast Asia and the Middle East account for 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

    “Although there has been some controversy in the development of e-cigarettes, many still want to consider the industrial value and explore the harm reduction technology that comes along with the new business model,” according to Pan Daily. “In 2021, there were more than 1,500 domestic e-cigarette manufacturing and brand enterprises, more than 190,000 e-cigarette retail outlets, and nearly 100,000 e-cigarette supply chains and merchandise service enterprises. The domestic e-cigarette industry directly employs about 1.5 million people and indirectly employs 4 million people, totaling about 5.5 million people.”

    In March this year, China began to enforce its Measures for Electronic Cigarettes Management and the National Standards for Electronic Cigarettes. The regulations put forward clear standards and requirements for compliance operations in production, wholesale and retail, as well as strengthening the protection of minors.

  • Nebraska City Seeing Spike in Vape Shop Robberies

    Nebraska City Seeing Spike in Vape Shop Robberies

    Nebraska has seen a spike in vape shop robberies recently as thieves target CBD and Delta-8 THC products. On July 10, in Lincoln, Nebraska, Between 2 and 5 a.m., the Lincoln Police Department (LPD) responded to reports and alarms at two businesses — Cloud 9 Smoke Shop and CBD Remedies — where officers found shattered storefront glass at both locations, according to Officer Luke Bonkiewicz.

    The Lincoln Journal Star reports that in both cases, burglars gained entry into the businesses — after causing $500 in damage to each storefront, Bonkiewicz said — and made off with product from inside the shops. The owner of Cloud 9, near 11th and F streets, is still conducting inventory to determine what exactly burglars took. The same is true at CBD Remedies, near Normal Boulevard and South 48th Street, where burglars set off an alarm upon entry at 4:48 a.m. Friday.

    The pair of break-ins comes two days after another similar burglary, totaling three in as many days. LPD discovered a broken window at Generation V E-Cigarettes and Vape Bar around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, where the owner of the business near Holdrege Street and North Cotner Boulevard reported a preliminary loss of $2,000, Officer Erin Spilker said.

    The latest three break-ins follow at least two others in recent months that seem to align with those investigated this week. But the uptick that seems to involve the same group of burglars could date further back than this calendar year.

    Timothy Goodman, a manager at the Lincoln Vapor location hit by burglars in May, said that break-in was just the latest in a string of six incidents in the last year or more. Goodman said it’s his understanding that every break-in can be linked to the same group.

    Goodman, who has worked at Lincoln Vapor for nearly four years, said a group of burglars stole $2,000-$3,000 worth of merchandise in May and have lifted around $16,000 in products from the business in the last year and a half. The majority of products were hardware and cannabis products such as CBD and Delta-8 THC. “It’s frustrating beyond belief,” Goodman said. “I wake up most nights in the middle of the night and check the cameras to make sure nobody got in.”

  • Jarvis Vaping Supply Receives PMTA Acceptance Letter

    Jarvis Vaping Supply Receives PMTA Acceptance Letter

    Jarvis Vaping Supply (JVS), parent to four of 21 Ohio-based Vapor Station vape shops, announced that its premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) has been accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). James Jarvis, co-owner of JVS with his wife Gerri, announced the receipt of the acceptance letter on his Facebook page. The acceptance includes all 998 SKUs submitted to the FDA for authorization, James confirmed in a text.

    “I’m so proud of my wife … she spent so many late nights, so many hours, frustration, stress and a lot of patience went into this,” James wrote. “She helped many others once she finished ours on top of this.”

    JVS is a wholesale vaping supply store. Alongside the four Vapor Station retail stores in and around Columbus, Ohio, James also serves as president of the Ohio Vapor Trade Association, and both Gerri and James are avid advocates of the vapor industry.

    Gerri and James Jarvis

    While James continued to run the business, Gerri worked day and night over six months to fill out PMTAs for 998 products (SKUs). In the end, she dumped roughly 3 million pages off at the FDA. With just the help of a Facebook group called PMTA Sharing, Gerri was able to climb the PMTA mountain without any help from firms experienced in submitting PMTAs. The Jarvis’ were among 1,600 vapor company representatives who joined this and other private groups to help them navigate the PMTA process.

    “With Covid-19 hitting right in the thick of the PMTA process, money was so tight that we needed to be careful with spending. Thanks to the help of the Facebook group, we were confident that we could turn something in to the FDA,” Gerri said in a recent interview with Vapor Voice.

    After submitting JVS PMTAs, Gerri then went on to help her friend Jason Gang of Westside Vapor as well as several other small companies negotiate the PMTA process, including Dripology, Vapor Generation, KL Labs and E Cig Cafe. Gerri said Westside Vapor’s PMTAs for its 1,800 products totaled over 6 million pages. Westside Vapor also received an acceptance letter according to James, but that has not yet been verified.

  • Turning Point Brands Appoints Louie Reformina as CFO

    Turning Point Brands Appoints Louie Reformina as CFO

    Photo: Jakub Jirsák | Dreamstime

    Turning Point Brands has appointed Chief Business Development Officer Louie Reformina, as the company’s new chief financial officer, effective May 1, 2021. Reformina is replacing Bobby Lavan, who will step down after first quarter earnings to pursue a new opportunity. In addition, Brian Wigginton, Turning Point Brands’ chief accounting officer, has been promoted from vice president to senior vice president.

    “I would like to thank Bobby for his unceasing commitment to the company,” said Larry Wexler, Turning Point Brands’ president and CEO, in a statement. “Bobby played a major role in improving Turning Point Brands’ capital structure, streamlining the business, making accretive acquisitions and investments and positioning the Company for the growth that we are experiencing today.

    “I look forward to tracking his future progress. Additionally, Louie has played an important leadership role in the company by pivoting our focus to higher growth opportunities in cannabis-related and other branded consumer product industries. I am excited to see him expand his responsibilities as we accelerate our growth trajectory.”

    “Turning Point Brands is one of the most innovative and well-capitalized companies in the high-growth cannabis-related accessories market,” said Reformina. “Our iconic brands and market-leading distribution platform set us apart in this rapidly evolving space. In addition, our New York Stock Exchange listing helps to provide deep access to the capital markets, which allows us to opportunistically take advantage of acquisition opportunities that are beyond the reach of many competitors.

    I look forward to continuing to work with the team to reinvest our substantial free cash flow in high-growth branded consumer products, expand our distribution infrastructure and strengthen our capital position.

    Louie Reformina

    “As CFO, I look forward to continuing to work with the team to reinvest our substantial free cash flow in high-growth branded consumer products, expand our distribution infrastructure and strengthen our capital position.”

    “I would like to thank Larry and the management team at Turning Point Brands for the opportunity to work with them on the Company’s continued evolution,” said. Lavan. “I have been working closely with Louie since he first joined the Company and am confident that his elevation to CFO will help to ensure a seamless transition, while continuing the Company’s focus on growth.”

    Reformina joined Turning Point Brands in 2019 and has more than 20 years of financial experience. He previously served in investment roles at Point72 Asset Management, Waterfront Capital Partners, Perella Weinberg Partners and Vestar Capital Partners. He began his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Co. and received his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, as well as his B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University, where he graduated summa cum laude.

    Turning Point Brands estimates that net sales for the first quarter of 2021 will be at the high end or above the previous guidance of $97 million to $102 million provided during the presentation of its full-year and fourth-quarter 2020 results on Feb. 10, 2021.

  • Oscar Health Executive Joel Klein Joins Juul Labs Board

    Oscar Health Executive Joel Klein Joins Juul Labs Board

    Joel Klein, a top executive at health insurer Oscar Health, has joined the board of directors of Juul Labs, one of the largest e-cigarette companies in the world.

    Joel Klein Credit NYT
    Joel Klein, Credit: NYT

    Klein is the chief policy and strategy officer at Oscar, which went public earlier this month in an IPO that valued the company at $8.6 billion, according to Business Insider. He previously spent eight years as the chancellor of New York City public schools under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Politico first reported Klein’s appointment.

    “I believe the company must continue to play a critical role in reducing the devastating harm caused by smoking,” Klein said in a statement emailed to Insider. “To accomplish that paramount goal, Juul Labs must, first and foremost, continue preventing underage use of its products.

    Oscar declined to comment on Klein’s appointment.

  • Analyst: PMTA Rule Puts Tobacco in Control of Vapor

    Analyst: PMTA Rule Puts Tobacco in Control of Vapor

    Credit: Sarah Johnson

    Tomorrow’s deadline for the submission of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marks the start of a new era for the e-cigarette industry, according to an article published by The Motley Fool.
     
    Companies who fail to apply for marketing authorization by the deadline will be required to remove their hardware and e-liquids from store shelves, and The Motley Fool expects many e-cigarette companies to exit the business.
     
    Because the cost of complying with the regulations is staggeringly high, many manufacturers will not be able to make it over the hurdle, and the e-cigarette market will be left largely to the tobacco giants.
     
    Although the FDA estimates a single PMTA costs anywhere from $117,000 to $466,000, those figures are considered low by the industry. The Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Association estimates a single PMTA costs between $8.6 million and $11.1 million per stock keeping units. It forecasts 14,000 small vape businesses employing 166,000 workers will be destroyed, representing $24 billion in economic activity.
     
    Deep-pocketed Philip Morris International, by contrast, already has four separate PMTAs approved: one for its IQOS heated-tobacco device and three for flavors of its disposable HeatSticks.
     
    As of Aug. 31, the FDA had received applications for around 2,000 deemed products, of which around 40 percent have been resolved, according to Mitch Zeller, director of the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products.