FDA Denies Marketing of Bidi Stick

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a marketing denial order to Bidi Vapor for its Bidi Stick Classic e-cigarette. This product is a closed-system, disposable, tobacco-flavored e-cigarette device.

“FDA has a key role to protect the public from the dangers of tobacco use,” said Matthew Farrelly, director of the Office of Science within the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “Integral to that role, our tobacco application review process relies on scientific evidence that demonstrates a product provides a net benefit to public health that outweighs the known risks. The science in this application did not show that.”

The FDA evaluates premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) based on a public health standard that considers the benefits (e.g., benefit from adult users of more harmful tobacco products completely switching) and risks (e.g., initiation among youth) of the product to the population as a whole. After reviewing the company’s PMTA, the FDA determined that the application lacked sufficient evidence to demonstrate that permitting marketing of the product would be appropriate for the protection of the public health, which is the standard legally required by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Specifically, evidence submitted by the applicant did not demonstrate an overall net benefit to people who use tobacco products and lacked sufficient evidence to address health risks.

“Bidi Vapor is disappointed by the FDA’s decision and is currently reviewing the opinion based on its merits,” said Niraj Patel, CEO of Bidi Vapor. “In the meantime, the decision only affects our Classic, or tobacco-flavored, product. Our remaining 10 flavors are still under scientific review and available for sale. At this time, we are investigating legal remedies and expect to have updates in the coming days. For now, we ask that our wholesale and retail partners direct their questions to our sales representatives.”

“The center has made considerable progress in reviewing the massive volume of tobacco product applications submitted to the agency, thanks to the tireless efforts of our dedicated legion of civil servant scientists,” said Brian King, director of the CTP. “The center remains committed to processing submitted applications as expeditiously as possible while ensuring the utmost scientific integrity of the reviews.”

To date, the FDA has authorized 23 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products and devices. The distribution or sale of unlawfully marketed products is subject to compliance and enforcement action.