Court Refuses to Suspend Fontem MDO

A U.S. appeals court denied Fontem US’ request to suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial orders (MDO) for certain Myblu products.

On April 8, the FDA rejected several of the company’s premarket tobacco product applications on the basis that they lacked sufficient evidence to show that permitting the marketing of those products would be appropriate for the protection of public health.

The court rejected Fontem’s July 12 request for a stay, saying that the e-cigarette company had waited too long to file the motion.

“Fontem has demonstrated that the marketing denial order is causing it harm, but by waiting more than two months after the marketing denial order’s issuance to seek emergency relief, Fontem weakened its claim of irreparable harm,” the court wrote.

The court also stated that Fontem “has not made a strong showing” that it is likely to succeed in its appeal of the MDO on merits.

“The court ruling does not affect our progress through the FDA’s administrative appeals process, through which we intend to convince the agency that approval should be granted for Myblu products,” said a spokesperson for Fontem US.

“In the meantime we continue to supply Myblu to the majority of retailers. The MDO does not apply to Blu disposables which constitute 50 percent of Blu share in the U.S. market.”