Tag: nicotine

Next Generation Labs Receives European Patent

Photo: tashatuvango
Next Generation Labs has received a European Patent (No. 3209653), for its proprietary technology related to the preparation of R-S isomer nicotine.
“This patent grant by the European Patent Office is a significant milestone for Next Generation Labs, as it solidifies our tobacco-free synthetic nicotine intellectual property portfolio across a number of European countries, allowing the company to better enforce its rights against violators and counterfeiters of its industry leading TFN branded synthetic nicotine,” Next Generation Labs wrote in a statement.
“Alongside our announcement of patent grants in China, Australia, and Canada, and the enforcement efforts of our strategic partner NextEra in South Korea, we are now even better positioned to take direct action against companies violating our patented nicotine production process in an additional 38 countries.”
Next Generation Labs says it was the first company to successfully scale the bulk manufacture of non-tobacco synthetic nicotine for use in novel non-tobacco products, such as vape liquids and pens, in heat-not-burn devices and in many modern oral nicotine products, as well as in innovative pharmaceutical nicotine cessation products.
“Our company believes that consumers have a right to access non-tobacco derived nicotine as a matter of choice,” Next Generation Labs wrote.
“There are many adult consumers who wish to enjoy nicotine, but want to do so without the lingering and potentially detrimental effects of long-term tobacco use. The introduction of TFN branded synthetic nicotine has created a liberating opportunity for consumers, who as a result of Next Generation Labs nicotine technology, are now able to achieve a complete break from tobacco as they enjoy many of the leading brands available on the market today that use TFN.”
June 29, 2021
Researchers Study Nicotine’s Protection Against Covid-19

Photo: meryll
Researchers at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris are investigating whether Covid-19 can be treated with nicotine, reports RFI.
The project is in response to an observation made by doctors in the first months of the pandemic that there were fewer smokers among their most serious Covid cases. The ‘smokers’ paradox’ was observed in China and in peer review studies around the world. A French study that found that out of 11,000 hospitalized patients, only 8.5 percent were smokers, compared to 25.4 percent of the general population.
Some suggest the nicotine in cigarettes could be slowing the virus. Many Covid-19 deaths are caused by an overreaction of the immune system. Scientists speculate that nicotine helps moderate such overreactions because it lowers the immune system’s activity.
Last year French researchers analyzed public health data of people who used nicotine substitutes, like patches or gum. They noticed that those people had less Covid than those who did not use them.
To test the hypotheses, Paris hospitals launched three clinical studies using nicotine patches. One of the studies, concluded in April, involved 220 patients in intensive care units for severe Covid. Half were given nicotine patches and the others given placebos. The data is being analyzed, and the first results should be out in June.
While the findings are interesting, Pitie-Salpetriere doctor Zahir Amoura warns people against taking up smoking to protect themselves from Covid. “Smoking is a scourge. It’s important to repeat that,” he told RFI.
May 25, 2021
Irvine: Health Canada’s Nicotine Cap is Deadly Decision
If Health Canada has its way, this year vaping will be dealt three knockout blows that will see, not just the end of the business as we know it, but an increase in smoking-related deaths nation-wide, says Ian Irvine, a professor of economics at Concordia University.
Ottawa is recalibrating the delicate equilibrium between harm reduction and youth use of nicotine. It plans to introduce a mandatory limit on nicotine concentration in e-cigarettes and to ban most flavours. Maximum permissible content is currently at 66 milligrams per millilitre; the new limit will be 20. Eventually, we will see strike three: excise taxes.
Ian Irvine, courtesy Concordia University
Harm reduction tries to induce smokers to switch to nicotine products with greatly reduced toxins, particularly if they are habituated or even addicted to nicotine. Public Health England has repeatedly stated that the toxins in e-cigs are at most five per cent of those in regular cigarettes. The toxins that cause cancer come from the burning of tobacco at 700 degrees Celsius. But vaping devices heat rather than burn. Nicotine is not the health demon. It does cause habituation. But it’s the burning that shortens lives.
In an article for the Regina Leader-Post, Irvin explains that e-cigarettes are not harmless. The health problem vaping poses is that between five and 10 per cent of teens are regular vapers and nicotine is bad for the developing brain. But while a pack-a-day smoker will on average lose 10 years of life, an equally indulgent vaper might lose just one. Most adults who drink moderately, gamble, like sugar too much, or exercise insufficiently might think one year off a normal lifespan a reasonable price to pay to indulge a passion or need.
As for adult smokers, people considering a transition from smoking to vaping require a product yielding enough nicotine to satisfy their craving. Many potential switchers will not make the transition — and will end up dying prematurely — if they cannot get a strong enough nicotine substitute for their cigarettes. Canada has about 40,000 smoking-related deaths per year, so if even a small percentage of smokers don’t transition because of insufficient nicotine, that will mean thousands more deaths annually.
If Health Canada succeeds in introducing both a nicotine cap and a flavour ban on vaping, smoking rates will continue to be higher than necessary and many thousands of unnecessary deaths will folllow.
The entire opinion can be read here.
March 16, 2021
Altria: FDA Must Clarify Nicotine Misperceptions
The Altria Group Inc. asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its help in convincing Americans that nicotine isn’t linked to cancer. In a letter to the regulatory agency, the maker of IQOS and Juul products asked for the FDA to assist in combatting misperceptions about nicotine as part of a proposed $100 million advertising campaign to reduce the harm caused by tobacco.
According to a letter seen by Bloomberg, Altria states that nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults incorrectly believe nicotine causes cancer, citing government research. Clearing up the drug’s health risks will be key to the agency reducing smoking combustible cigarettes because it will help convince cigarette users to switch to noncombustible options for nicotine, the company said.
While there are at least 60 well-established carcinogens in cigarette smoke, it’s been known for years that nicotine isn’t the direct cause of many of smoking’s ills. The drug has even been touted as a way to ease tension and sharpen the mind. But nicotine is the ingredient that addicts people to tobacco products, and it has risks, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a government agency.
The FDA “should commit resources and expertise to correct the deeply entrenched public misperceptions regarding the health risks of nicotine,” Paige Magness, Altria’s senior vice president of regulatory affairs, said in the letter dated Feb. 25. Such a campaign would help the agency by getting more smokers to use noncombustible offerings that “may present lower health risk,” according to the letter.
The FDA declined to comment, according to Bloomberg.
March 4, 2021
Utah Lawmakers Want Control of Nicotine Limits
The a new bill in the U.S. state of Utah seeks to un-do some vaping restrictions in the state. S.B. 134 would raise the standard of 24 mg/ml to 65 mg/ml if passed. Senator Curtis Bramble, the lawmaker behind the bill, says that the current standard bars 70 to 80 percent of all vape products on the market.
Credit: Tyler Moore
“We’ve done everything prudent to limit access of these products to youth; the question is if these are legal products in the US, should it be by administrative rule that they are prohibited or should it by an affirmative vote of the legislature that we limit the market?” Senator Bramble asked during a senate committee.
Over the last few years, Utah’s state legislature has given the Utah Department of Health (UDH) the power to limit nicotine sales and quantities in Utah. Beginning in 2020, UDH set a standard of 24 mg/mL of nicotine in vaping products sold in the state.
Beyond raising the nicotine standards, the law would also strip UDH of the ability to create these kinds of limits. Opponents to S.B. 134 say the more limits to nicotine the better, no matter where those limits are coming from.
“We have a youth addiction problem with nicotine; we have 30,000 youth in Utah vaping. Why on earth would the legislature want to increase the amount of nicotine?” asked Walter Plumb, the president of Drug Safe Utah, said, according to a story on abc4.com.
The bill has passed in a Senate committee and is waiting for a vote by the full Senate.
February 22, 2021
Germany to Tax Vapor Based on Amount of Nicotine

Photo: Theerapan Bhumirat | Dreamstime.com
The German government has proposed a new tax for nicotine-containing vapor products, which would be effective in summer 2022.
The new tax is “a response to current market developments.” It would include a tax of €0.02 ($0.02) per mg of nicotine for e-liquids, effective July 1, 2022. Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, the tax would double by the end of 2026.
“This is appropriate for reasons of fair taxation since only nicotine-containing substances in e-cigarettes are to be regarded as substitutes for cigarettes,” the draft of the proposed Tobacco Tax Modernization Act states. Authorities are also justifying the decision based on the “existing risk potential” of vapor products compared to traditional tobacco products.
“They are not harmless consumer products and can cause serious illnesses,” the draft bill states.
Lawmakers expect the new tax to bring in €135 million in 2022 and up to €2.9 billion by 2026.
The German Alliance for Tobacco-free Pleasure (BfTG) says the plan “makes no sense.”
“The tax would make smoking cheaper than vaping and make e-liquids many times more expensive,” BfTG chairman Dustin Dahlmann told ECigIntelligence, warning that it could lead to a flourishing black market and a collapsing legal industry, such as in Italy and Estonia. The BfTG believes taxation should be left at the EU level.
Currently, vapor products are not specially taxed. They are subject to the 19 percent value-added tax, however.
A decision is expected by the end of 2021.
February 18, 2021
Nveed Chaudhary Joins Broughton Nicotine Services

Nveed Chaudhary (Photo: BNS)
Broughton Nicotine Services has appointed Nveed Chaudhary as chief regulatory officer.
This appointment is the latest in a series of high-profile additions to the team at the contract research organization specializing in electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), as it embarks on its next phase of growth.
Having built a leading reputation for advancing a smoke-free future by helping ENDS companies bring non-combustible products to market, the business is now also moving into modern oral nicotine products, heated tobacco products and cannabidiol products.
“We are absolutely delighted to have brought Nveed on-board,” said Paul Moran, CEO of Broughton Nicotine Services. “He is one of a small number of experts in the industry to have developed scientific and regulatory strategies that have delivered the highly sought-after marketing order for both premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) and modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) applications. Nveed’s depth of knowledge and experience will further help Broughton’s clients shape the future of next generation nicotine products.”
Previously head of harm reduction science at Imperial Brands and director of strategic communications at Philip Morris International, Nveed was a core team member of the successful IQOS PMTA and MRTP regulatory submissions and director for the Myblu PMTA submission program. He is a recognized expert in the nicotine sector, author of over 25 peer-reviewed publications and speaker at international lung disease and tobacco harm reduction conferences.
“My career goal has always been to reduce the burden that lung disease has on patients, society and public health,” said Chaudhary. “To combat the harm effects caused by smoking it’s important to offer consumers high quality, rigorously tested and regulated non-combustible products.
“Broughton Nicotine Services act as the bridge between the industry and global regulators. By applying experience and knowledge we partner with manufacturers to help them secure Marketing Orders for safer next generation products.
“It’s clear that the business shares my drive to accelerate the creation of a smoke-free future and I’m excited to be part of the team.”
February 18, 2021
Australia Tightens Rules for Nicotine E-Liquid Imports

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Australians importing liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes will need to have a prescription from Oct. 1, reports The Sydney Morning Herald, citing the country’s medical watchdog.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said its decision balanced consumer demand for the product as a smoking cessation aid and the potential for nicotine e-cigarettes to lead to addiction.
“A patient’s doctor is uniquely placed to give the support required for long-lasting smoking cessation,” the agency said, adding that it had not yet approved any vapor product as a smoking-cessation aid.
In response to the TGA’s decision, the government will scrap contentious customs regulations, which included a fine of up to $200,000 for those illegally importing nicotine. The regulation was opposed by a large group of backbenchers, and due to kick in from the start of next year.
The possession of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is illegal without a prescription in every state and territory, besides South Australia.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said it was important to note that any doctor could prescribe nicotine-based e-cigarettes.
“This is not widely understood, and it is an important matter of public information that over 30,000 GPs may currently, and in the future, prescribe nicotine-based e-cigarettes for smoking cessation,” he said.
Critics say Australia’s prescription-only policy is hampered by the reluctance of many general practitioners to prescribe liquid nicotine and by a requirement to seek a special exemption for each patient.
December 21, 2020
Health Canada Wants Lower Nicotine Limits for E-Cigarettes
Health Canada wants to lower the nicotine limits for e-cigarettes to 20 mg/ml. The current limit is 66 mg/ml.
Minister of Health Patty Hajdu announced a public consultation on Dec. 18, inviting Canadians to share their thoughts on the proposal by March. 4
According to the government, the proposed changes build on existing measures to address the rise in youth vaping, including extensive public education campaigns and banning the advertising of vaping products in public spaces if the ads can be seen or heard by youth.
Health Canada is also considering to further restrict flavors in vaping products. It wants to require the vapor industry to provide more information about its products, including on sales, ingredients and research and development activities.
“Our work to protect Canadians from the harms of vaping products continues. These changes will help reduce the appeal of vaping products to youth,” said Hajdu in a statement.
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) welcomed the plans. “The proposed regulations requiring a maximum nicotine concentration for vaping products of 20 mg/mL are essential to reduce youth vaping and deserve strong support,” said CCS Senior Policy Analyst Rob Cunningham.
The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) urged the government to balance youth protection with adult harm reduction. “It is without question that Canada must act to restrict nicotine concentrations to protect youth, but it should not be an all-or-nothing approach,” the association wrote in a press note.
“Ontario has restricted high nicotine products to age-restricted environments, effectively eliminating all retail access points for youth. This policy has proven effective in mitigating youth use while balancing the needs of adult smokers. The CVA encourages the government of Canada to adopt this policy federally,” said Darryl Tempest, executive director of the CVA.
December 20, 2020
Health Expert Wants Malaysia to Focus on Harm Reduction

Credit: Auremar / Dreamstime.com
The Malaysian government wants to reduce the number of smokers in the country by 15 percent by 2025. They are hoping to accomplish the goal through regulation and taxation, however, not by exploring less-risky nicotine products.
According to an article in The Sun Daily, previous measures such as raising taxes and the price of tobacco in a bid to reduce consumption had not only been ineffective, but also catapulted the growth of the illegal cigarette market.
During the third virtual Scientific Summit on Tobacco Harm Reduction 2020 in September, public health expert professor Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh, was quoted saying that the tobacco harm reduction strategy could be used as an alternative solution. However, it would face many hurdles as it was still not well-received by Malaysians in general.
She said there were still concerns over the efficacy of non-tobacco nicotine products on top of the notion that e-cigarettes could increase smoking gateways among youths, adding that there was also the issue of no proper monitoring of tobacco alternative products, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and heat-not-burn (HnB) products, such as IQOS.
At the moment, rules and regulations only cover the selling of nicotine products and are categorised under the Poison Act 1952. This clearly states that the supply and sale of any preparation containing nicotine is only allowed by licensed pharmacists and registered doctors for the purpose of treatment.
Sharifa was speaking as a panellist during the summit’s discussion titled “Tobacco Harm Reduction in low- and middle-income countries”, where she told the panel the government was taking a harder stand with its plan to introduce the standalone Tobacco Control Act to replace the Control of Tobacco Products Regulations 2004, which seeks to tighten control on all types of tobacco products.
Speaking on the sidelines, she told the newspaper the new act will deem nicotine products, including vapes and HNB devices, as tobacco products and will be enforced as such and likely to be totally banned. “This means only vape with non-nicotine e-juices will be allowed in the market,” she said. “This would only lead to less ‘safer choices’ for hard core smokers to transition to safer practices and options.”
She added that combustible cigarettes have been known to be more hazardous not only to the smoker themselves but also to those around them as opposed to the alternatives like vapes and HnB due to the lack of tobacco combustion. This, she said, was compounded with the large availability of contraband and illicit cigarettes that are abundant in the market at a low cost.
Sharifa also acknowledged there has been a visible dip in smoking prevalence in the country following its rigorous anti-smoking strategy nationwide. However, she said it could not be taken wholeheartedly since the authorities were unable to determine whether former users had switched to contraband cigarettes, vapes, HnB or that they had truly quit smoking.
“No proper study has been concisely implemented to look at the nature, but nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is very common in Malaysia. However, implementation wise, it does have its concerns of access, lack of availability, and standardisation across urban and rural areas, and lack of trained health personnel in rural settings,” she said. “Many studies have shown that all types of nicotine products such as vapes, ENDS and NRT rate is curtailing persistent smokers are almost similar.”
December 14, 2020