Vapor Voice Publishes PMTA Tracking Tool

Thousands of vapor companies submitted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline to keep their products on the U.S. market. But which products exactly are under review and how all those submissions have fared in the process is less clear. A comprehensive list promised by the FDA has yet to materialize.

In the absence of an official database, Tobacco Reporter’s sister publication, Vapor Voice, decided to create its own tracker. As a news outlet, Vapor Voice already receives many press releases relating to PMTA submissions. In addition, its editors continuously monitor corporate websites, social media platforms and other industry sources. Individually, the pieces of information gathered during those endeavors make for interesting news announcements; taken together, they provide a coherent dataset to track PMTAs.

Of course, this approach has its limits. The data is self-reported, and at present, Vapor Voice cannot fully verify the veracity of all claims made in the announcements used to compile the list. The quality of the information that reaches the magazine also varies greatly, from exact counts in all list categories to more general statements on a brand or brand family without further elaboration. As per Vapor Voice’s protocol, these issues are noted in the list.

While the dataset should not be taken as a representative sample, it paints as coherent a picture as possible. Vapor Voice recommends using this tool to gain a directional understanding and as a starting point in a comprehensive due diligence search regarding products.

Check out the Vapor Voice PMTA tracker here.