Lauterbach & Associates, a consulting group assisting smaller tobacco and vapor product manufacturers in meeting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements, is affiliating with Neil Sherwood and Neil Sherwood Consulting of Commugny, Switzerland.
Sherwood is a chartered psychologist with more than 25 years’ experience in drug, tobacco and regulatory science. After completing a Ph.D. on the cognitive effects of nicotine and undertaking postdoctoral research in human psychopharmacology he joined Novartis as a manager of clinical pharmacology, liaising with regulatory bodies such as the FDA CDER in developing studies to support the registration and authorization of pharmaceutical compounds.
Sherwood then joined the scientific and regulatory affairs department of Japan Tobacco International, where he worked for 15 years covering many aspects of tobacco regulatory science for conventional and new-generation products including disease epidemiology, addiction, smoking behavior, environmental tobacco smoke, clinical investigations and public health assessment.
At the beginning of 2016 Sherwood established his own consultancy with the aim to help develop and protect brands by addressing, managing and resolving scientific issues regarding product use and consumer health.
“Dr. Sherwood brings to our team substantial expertise in tobacco product regulation and in the sensory aspects of tobacco products,” said John Lauterbach, sole member and principal, chemistry & toxicology at Lauterbach & Associates.
“In particular, I expect that Neil will be able to help our clients deal with attempts by the FDA to declare a product Not Substantially Equivalent (NSE) on the basis that minor changes in the new product versus the predicate product make the new product too attractive to smokers.
“Moreover, I expect that Dr. Sherwood will be a key resource for our clients on dealing with very recent FDA attack against the manufacturers of filtered cigars.”