Tag: e-cigarettes

Judge Boosts Philip Morris’ IQOS Infringement Award

Photo: New Africa
R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. owes Philip Morris Products more than $14 million after a federal judge on Aug. 17 increased a jury’s June patent-infringement award over vapor products to include prejudgment interest and supplemental damages, reports Bloomberg Law.
Judge Leonie M. Brinkema amended the judgment entered June 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to reflect a total judgment amount of $10.9 million for infringement of one patent and $3.16 million for infringement of another.
In its June 15 judgement, the jury found that RJR’s Vuse Solo and Alto devices infringe two Philip Morris patents covering parts of a vaping device for heating substances and preventing leaks. At the same time, the jury cleared Vuse Alto of infringing one of the patents.
The verdict concerned counterclaims in RJR’s ongoing patent lawsuit over PMI’s IQOS heated-tobacco device. RJR won an order blocking IQOS imports at the U.S. International Trade Commission last November.
Philip Morris succeeded earlier this year in invalidating parts of some patents RJR accused it of infringing at a U.S. Patent Office tribunal.
RJR parent company BAT has also sued Philip Morris over IQOS in the United Kingdom, Germany and elsewhere. A PMI filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year said IQOS patent lawsuits and challenges outside of the U.S. have “repeatedly and universally failed.”
Altria has separately sued Reynolds for patent infringement in North Carolina over the Vuse line.
August 21, 2022
Study: E-Cigs on NHS Could Help 40% of Smokers Quit

Credit: Andriano_cz
Handing out e-cigarettes on the National Health System (NHS) in the UK can help even ‘hardened’ cigarette smokers quit, researchers say.
A recent study saw more than 300 traditional smokers given £25 vape shop vouchers, as well as support from the health service’s stop smoking service.
Within one month, four in 10 of those who used the coupons said they had turned their back on cigarettes for good.
Despite the quit rate falling to 15 percent by three months, the researchers said it was still a ‘big success’.
The pilot scheme has been expanded to around 750,000 adults in Norfolk.
But the University of East Anglia team say early results are so good that it should be rolled out nationally.
They want GPs to be able to prescribe e-cigarettes to patients struggling to kick their habits.
August 20, 2022
California: San Benito County Readies to Ban Flavors
As a statewide ballot question in November’s election about whether flavored e-cigarettes and other tobacco products should be banned approaches, San Benito County has decided to take the first step towards banning the products.
At its Aug. 9 meeting, the county’s Board of Supervisors approved the first reading of an ordinance that will ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in all areas in the county, including the cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista, reports Halfwheel. The approval was unanimous among the five supervisors.
The ordinance, which also includes a ban on the sale of single-use or disposable e-cigarettes, will get a second reading at the board’s August 23 meeting. If it passes as written, the ban would go into place 30 days after is adopted.
San Benito County has approximately 64,000 residents, and is located southeast of San Jose.
August 20, 2022
VPR Brands Gets FDA Warning for Nicotine Gummies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Aug. 18 issued a warning letter to VPR Brands (doing business as Krave Nic) for marketing illegal flavored nicotine gummies—the first warning letter for this type of product.
According to the FDA, these types of gummies are of particular public concern because of their resemblance to kid-friendly food or candy products and the potential to cause severe nicotine toxicity or even death among young children.
VPR Brands markets gummies that have 1 mg of nicotine each and are available in three flavors – Blueraz, Cherry Bomb and Pineapple. The packaging claims that the products contain tobacco-free nicotine. This firm has not submitted a premarket tobacco product application to the FDA, and does not have a marketing authorization order to manufacture, sell or distribute these products in the U.S.
“Nicotine gummies are a public health crisis just waiting to happen among our nation’s youth, particularly as we head into a new school year,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf in a statement. “We want parents to be aware of these products and the potential for health consequences for children of all ages—including toxicity to young children and appeal of these addictive products to our youth. The FDA will not stand by as illegal products infiltrate the marketplace.”
August 19, 2022
Study: Vaping Reduces Heart Risks Compared to Smoking

Photo: New Africa
A new study carried out by the Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction in Sicily confirms that vaping presents a lower risk to heart health than does smoking.
The researchers replicated a 2017 BAT study, which demonstrated that the endothelial cell migration inhibition caused by cigarette smoke is not caused by e-cigarette aerosol exposure. (The endothelium is a membrane lining the heart and blood vessels).
Using the Vype ePen3 and the heated-tobacco products Glo Pro and IQOS 3 Duo, the Replica study corroborated the findings of the BAT study.
Riccardo Polosa
“The interesting fact is that switching to combustion-free products reduces vascular damages and prevents the possibility of the onset of smoking-related diseases, such as arteriosclerosis and hypertension,” said Massimo Caruso, an author of the study. “Once again, our research has challenged the notion that e-cigarettes or heated tobacco cause similar damage to that of combustible cigarettes.”
The study is part of the Replica Project, whose mission is to replicate studies conducted by tobacco companies—whose research is routinely dismissed as conflicted—in order to independently assess their scientific validity.
“By replicating the findings generated by tobacco industry studies on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, we are proving that these results are robust and trustworthy,” CoEHAR founder Riccardo Polosa told Filter.
August 18, 2022
Charlie’s Holdings: 58% Revenue Growth First Half 2022
Charlie’s Holdings, parent to Charlie’s Chalk Dust e-liquids, says its best-selling e-liquids are in the substantive review phase of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process.
The company remains in the select minority of 2020 PMTA submissions that are still viable; the company also submitted PMTAs for more than 700 additional products prior to the May 14, 2022 FDA deadline, according to a press release. Prior to the FDA’s May 14 deadline, Charlie’s successfully filed new PMTAs for its synthetic nicotine Pacha Syn products.
“Charlie’s positive momentum continued in the second quarter and first half of 2022, highlighted by our 36 percent and 58 percent year-over-year revenue growth,” stated Matt Montesano, CFO for Charlie’s Holdings. “We continued to diversify and expand Charlie’s robust product line, as represented by our new 12ml Pacha Syn Disposable line and our refreshed Pacha Syn e-liquid line, both of which launched in the second quarter of 2022.
“At the same time, we continued to operate the business with tight fiscal controls, as demonstrated by our further reduction of operating expenses, as a percentage of revenue, to 46 percent during the second quarter.”
Financial Results for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2022:
Revenue: For the six months ended June 30, 2022, revenue was $15.5 million, an increase of $5.7 million, or 58%, compared with $9.8 million for the same period last year. The increase in revenue was primarily due to a $4.8 million increase in sales of our nicotine-based vapor products and a $0.9 million increase in sales of our hemp derived products. The increase in our nicotine-based vapor product sales was driven by sales of our new 8ml Pacha Syn Disposable line, which launched in December 2021, as well as our 12ml Pacha Syn Disposable and refreshed Pacha Syn e-liquid lines, both of which launched in the second quarter of 2022.
Gross Profit: For the six months ended June 30, 2022, gross profit was $6.5 million, an increase of $1.4 million, or 28%, compared with $5.1 million for the same period last year. The resulting gross margin was 41.9%, compared with 51.6% for the same period in 2021. The decrease in gross margin is primarily due to an increased percentage of our sales coming from Charlie’s Pacha Syn Disposable product line, which carries a lower unit margin relative to the Company’s other products, as well as comparatively higher freight and delivery expenses and a larger reserve for inventory obsolescence related to certain of our retired hemp-derived wellness products.
Total Operating Expenses: For the six months ended June 30, 2022, total operating expense, including general and administrative, sales and marketing expense and research and development costs, were $6.7 million, an increase of $1.2 million, or 22%, compared with $5.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021. The increase in operating expenses was primarily attributable to sales and marketing costs related to enhanced trade-show activity during the quarter in furtherance of our plan to grow market share across the nicotine and hemp-derived product categories and $0.8 million in research and development costs associated with our 2022 PMTA submissions. Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased to 43%, from 56%, for the periods compared.
Operating Loss: For the six months ended June 30, 2022, operating loss was $0.2 million, a decrease of $0.2 million, or 51%, compared with an operating loss of $0.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021.
Net Income/Loss: For the six months ended June 30, 2022, net income was $0.1 million, compared with a net loss of $0.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021.
August 18, 2022
Altria Stock Up 8% Since FDA Pulled Juul Denial Order

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told Juul Labs it needed to pull its e-cigarette from the market, Altria stock (MO) hit a more than 52-week low of $41.00 in early July. On Aug. 15 MO was trading up 0.2 percent at $45.35.
Altria stock has fallen 7 percent over the past 12 months and is currently trading down 21 percent since peaking at a three-year high of $57.05 in early May, according to Schaefer’s Investment Research.
Additionally, shares of MO have dropped 6 percent year-to-date. However, Altria stock has increased 8 percent over the past month and is up 10 percent since the July low.
The FDA ordered Juul Labs to remove its products from the U.S. market and MO plummeted until, on July 6, the FDA said it was temporarily lifting its ban on Juul products.
The tobacco company’s valuation metrics remain mixed, with Altria stock trading at an intriguing forward price-earnings ratio of 9.29 but also at a high price-sales ratio of 3.92.
“Nonetheless, MO offers an incredible dividend yield of 7.97% with a forward dividend of $3.60, making it one of the highest dividend yields available on the stock market today,” the story states.
MO has struggled to maintain consistent growth on the bottom line over multiple years as well, reporting an $8.3 billion decrease in net income for fiscal 2019 and a $2 billion decrease for fiscal 2021.
Still, the tobacco company is expected to end fiscal 2022 with 5 percent revenue growth.
August 18, 2022
Vaping May Reduce Smoking Without Increasing Dependence

Photo: pavelkant
E-cigarettes may help people decrease their dependence on combustible cigarettes without increasing their overall nicotine dependence, according to a recent Penn State College of Medicine study.
The researchers enrolled 520 participants interested in reducing their cigarette intake but with no plans or interest to quit smoking and instructed them to reduce their cigarette consumption over the six-month study period. Participants randomly received an e-cigarette that delivered 36, 8 or 0 mg/mL of nicotine, or a cigarette substitute that contained no tobacco, as an aid in their efforts to reduce their cigarette consumption.
At six months, all participants in the e-cigarette groups reported significant, decreased cigarette consumption, with those in the 36 mg/mL group smoking the least number of cigarettes per day. Those in the e-cigarette groups reported significantly lower dependence on the Penn State Cigarette Dependence Index than those in the cigarette substitute group.
“Our results suggest that using e-cigarettes or a cigarette substitute to reduce cigarette consumption can result in a reduction of self-reported cigarette use and dependence,” said Jessica Yingst, who directs the College of Medicine’s Doctor of Public Health Program. “Importantly, use of the high-concentration e-cigarette did not increase overall nicotine dependence and was associated with a greater reduction in cigarette smoking compared to the cigarette substitute.”
August 17, 2022
FEELM Earns Chinese E-Cigarette Production License

One of the largest and most influential e-cigarette brands now has its production license in China.
FEELM, the flagship atomization technology platform belonging to Smoore – the world’s largest vape manufacture, earned the e-cigarette production licenses after completing all the necessary requirements set out earlier this year by the Chinese government.
The license was obtained from China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), the country’s top regulator of tobacco products.
In early 2022, China brought forward new national standards for electronic cigarettes, which required companies manufacturing vapor products to obtain a production license.
Three Smoore factories, two of which are licensed under the FEELM brand, have been granted production licenses, with FEELM also receiving official approval to produce e-cigarettes as its own entity, according to a press release.
Smoore welcomed China’s new policy framework, ensuring that all e-cigarette manufacturers operate in full compliance with the law.
“It is Smoore’s aim to continue to use science and technology as the driving force behind its business model, actively promoting the long-term sustainability of the industry and supporting its global client and customer base,” the release states.
FEELM’s products are already available in more than 50 countries around the world.
In 2022, FEELM launched its innovative disposable vaping device, FEELM Max, along with the world’s first ultra-thin vaping device, FEELM Air.
These new products will be available in the U.S., Europe, Africa and additional markets.
FEELM now has a total annual production capacity of two billion devices and also has the first fully automated production line in the vapor industry with the ability to produce more than 7,200 atomizers per hour.
“The high-quality production processes are centered on continual improvements to the customer’s vaping experience,” according to the release.
According to Frost & Sullivan, Smoore is the world’s largest vaping device manufacturer in terms of revenue, accounting for 22.8 percent of the total global market share in 2021.
Its global market share is bigger than the combined total of those companies listed from No.2 to No.5.
Less than 50 e-cigarette related companies, including retailers and manufacturers, have met the new restrictions and received licences from the authority so far, STMA’s website shows.
There are an estimated 1,500 companies involved in the vaping industry, according to calculations by the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC) last year.
However, more licenses are expected to be issued in coming months as regulators work through a backlog of applications, according to news reports.

August 16, 2022
Yach: Ukraine Offers Chance to Transform Tobacco

Photo: Hugo
The crisis in Ukraine offers an opportunity to transform tobacco use across eastern and central Europe.
By Derek Yach
Vladimir Vorotnikov, writing Vapor Voice‘s sister publication in Tobacco Reporter’s August 2022 issue, outlined how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended well-established supply chain and business relationships that have been in effect for decades. In fact, a careful read of Balkan Smoke by Mary C. Neuberger traces the roots of these relationships way back to Bulgaria in the 1920s. Vorotnikov discussed the impact of sanctions on Russian tobacco production, the emergence of illicit trade in the region, and more recently, the reestablishment of cigarette production in Ukraine.
He does not discuss the massive growth over the past few years in new reduced-risk nicotine products—led by IQOS—across eastern and central Europe. The editor makes the point that Russia is (was) one the largest markets for IQOS. My own observations during a visit to Kyiv in late October 2021 were that a range of vape products and heated-tobacco products were readily available across the city despite posters funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies near the Parliament proclaiming that they were dangerous.
An anti-vaping poster in Kyiv
(Photo courtesy of Derek Yach)
This is a time of profound transition for the region. Amid the horrors of war and the human tragedies it continues to bring to the people of Ukraine are opportunities to reduce future deaths from the single largest cause of premature death in the region—and especially among men—combustible tobacco products. As rebuilding begins—as it inevitably will—government, business and health professionals need to grasp the chance to avoid rebuilding the tobacco industry in the image of the past and rather take the high ground of health and make reduced-risk products the easily available option while phasing out combustible sales.
For governments, this means adopting risk-proportionate regulations that build on the approaches proposed by the recent Javed Khan report for the United Kingdom, and on the authorizations of a range of reduced-risk products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ukraine and the neighboring countries relied on FDA guidance in relation to Covid vaccine advice—now is the time to draw upon their guidance to accelerate access to reduced-risk products, citing the FDA’s comments that they are deemed “appropriate for the protection of public health.”
Tax and other regulatory approaches could be applied to accelerate the transition. Further, governments of the region need to step up investments in customs and excise oversight to stop large-scale illicit trade taking hold—as it has in the occupied territories of Georgia following Russian invasion in 2008.
The Russian government also has an obligation to protect the health of its people and take regulatory steps to ensure that the progress made by Philip Morris International, Japan Tobacco International and BAT is increasing their revenue from heated-tobacco products at the cost of combustibles. Slippage with regard to these gains will translate into a return to the very high smoking rates, and associated death rates, of the past.
Government actions will be limited, though, unless the three leading tobacco companies (PMI, JTI and BAT) active in the region commit to take concerted efforts to accelerate their transition out of combustibles and publicly clarify what “withdrawing from Russia” means. Are they continuing to profit from Russian cigarette sales albeit through local companies? Are those companies obliged to push ahead with reduced-risk products, or will they revert to cigarettes?
Outside of Russia, leading tobacco companies could communicate the benefits of switching, take measures to clamp down on illicit trade and tighten youth access to all nicotine products, through joint action. Such bold actions would give them a chance to show their seriousness to transformation—something investors should reward.
United Nations agencies have a role to play at this time. Evidence emerging from inside Ukraine suggests that smoking rates have increased among those in the military and possibly among displaced peoples. This is understandable given the unprecedented stress to which people are exposed. The current U.N. response has been to ignore this reality and simply continue to support policies that ban cigarette sales during conflicts—something that is probably ignored. A far better way forward is to support people who smoke or seek nicotine to have ready access to nicotine-replacement products and approved reduced-risk nicotine products. This would mean that a generation of people may well emerge from the war with lower overall risks to their health.
War and tobacco use are intimately linked and currently interacting in dangerous ways to the health of populations. We should not wait for the transition to peace and health to begin before taking steps to accelerate the transition of smokers away from combustibles.
A global health expert and anti-smoking advocate for more than 30 years, Derek Yach is the owner of Global Health Strategies. Previously, Yach was the director of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World and a World Health Organization cabinet director and executive director for noncommunicable diseases and mental health. He was deeply involved with the development of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

August 15, 2022