Japan Tobacco (JT) has received the highest ranking in the PRIDE Index 2020 for the fifth consecutive year. Created by Work with Pride, the index evaluates companies’ initiatives related to LGBT and other sexual minorities in Japan.
“We are delighted to receive the Gold recognition for the fifth consecutive year,” said Koichi Mori, JT’s senior vice president of human resources, in a statement. “At JT, we position respecting diversity as one of key management challenges.”
JT believes that embracing diversity and finding value in differences will bring about sustainable growth. The company has taken a variety of initiatives to create, develop and enhance the work environment by fostering diversity, where everyone can freely express their own personalities and recognize one another’s differences.
Altria Group will convert its non-voting shares in Juul Labs to voting shares, pursuant to its December 2018 investment in the e-cigarette manufacturer.
“Altria does not currently intend to exercise its additional governance rights obtained upon conversion, including the right to elect directors to Juul’s board, or to vote its Juul shares other than as a passive investor, pending the outcome of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) litigation,” Altria stated in a press release.
In April 2020, the FTC filed an administrative complaint challenging Altria’s minority investment in Juul. Altria believes it has a strong defense and intends to vigorously defend its investment.
“As previously disclosed, Altria expects to account for its investment in Juul under the fair value option. Under this option, Altria’s consolidated statement of earnings will include any cash dividends received from its investment in Juul as well as any changes in the fair value of the investment, which will be calculated quarterly,” the company wrote. “Altria intends to treat quarterly changes in the fair value of the investment as a special item and exclude those changes from its adjusted diluted earnings per share.”
In December 2018, Altria made a minority investment in Juul Labs. In exchange for the investment, Altria received a 35 percent economic interest in Juul Labs through non-voting shares, with their conversion to voting shares contingent on antitrust clearance. Under revised agreement terms announced in January 2020, Altria can designate two representatives to Juul’s board of directors.
E-cigarettes showed considerable promise as a smoking-cessation aid during a study in the U.K. that was recently published by Reed Wellbeing.
The health and lifestyle service engaged in a one-year pilot from February 2019 to February 2020 to independently assess the impact of directly supplying e-cigarettes as a form of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to up to 200 participants though the One You Haringey stop-smoking service.
Participants were given a choice between NRT, e-cigarettes or Champix. Those selecting e-cigarettes were provided with a device and pods free of charge and were supported to quit in line with treatment guidelines from the U.K. National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training.
E-cigarettes outperformed both NRT and Champix in first-attempt quits during the trial. The devices achieved a 93 quit rate when used alone and a 72 percent quit rate when combined with NRT. NRT use resulted in a 49 percent quit rate and Champix achieved a quit rate of 57 percent.
Twelve weeks after the trail, 100 percent of e-cigarette users were still refraining from smoking, compared with 96 percent of participants who used e-cigarettes and NRT, 84 percent of those who used NRT and 91 percent of Champix users.
A new synthetic nicotine eliminates the cancer-causing impurities in leaf-derived nicotine.
By Timothy Donahue
No tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). A new synthetic nicotine coming to market has none of the possible cancer-causing impurities that are found in traditional leaf-derived nicotine. This month, eLiquiTech, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tobacco Technology Inc. (TTI), is releasing its newly patented SyNic synthetic (S)-nicotine. The announcement has the potential to revolutionize next-generation tobacco products, such as electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS), oral nicotine-delivery systems and heat-not-burn (HnB) products.
SyNic USP/EP, SyNic nicotine bitartrate and SyNic polacrilex resin are manufactured in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-registered facilities using current good manufacturing practices (cGMP). These products have confirmed purity levels of more than 99.9 percent, (S) levels of more than 99.7 percent and are free of TSNAs and carcinogens, according to eLiquiTech CEO George Cassels-Smith. “What is the value of noncarcinogenic nicotine base to any tobacco product manufacturer?” he asks. “What is a noncarcinogenic tobacco product portfolio worth to the tobacco consuming public? But high-purity, pedigreed natural nicotine will continue to have a large seat at the table nevertheless.”
SyNic got its start seven years ago when e-LiquiTech began working with U.K.-based Zanoprima Lifesciences with the goal of developing a unique and patented portfolio of synthetic nicotine products. The group wanted those products to cover the entire nicotine value chain with a focus on next-generation tobacco products.
E-LiquiTech, through TTI, is committed to Zanoprima to serve as SyNic’s global distributor and the manufacturer of record for synthetic nicotine bitartrate and synthetic nicotine polacrilex resin as well as proprietary SyNic e-liquid formulas. “Ensuring that synthetic nicotine is readily available is the right thing to do for our industry—and now also is the right time to do it,” said Cassels-Smith.
Zanoprima holds the patent and eLiquiTech maintains the exclusive rights for global distribution to the tobacco and ENDS industries, but the product won’t be available to everyone, according to Cassels-Smith.
George Cassels-Smith
“This will not be available directly to the consumer market. We will soon post a set of standards online that manufacturers must meet to purchase our synthetic nicotine,” he says. “This product is not intended to circumvent the rules governing the tobacco and ENDS industries nor evade regulation. We will not sell it to companies that have that intent.”
SyNic will refrain from entering the highly contentious U.S. vapor market until its potential customers can show they have an accepted for review premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) submitted to the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “Our objective is to work with the FDA, not around it,” says Cassels-Smith.
When synthetic nicotine first appeared on the market in 2016, the product was marketed as being a potential way to circumvent the FDA’s proposed deeming rule for next-generation tobacco products. The FDA’s definition of “tobacco product” includes any product made or derived from tobacco, including any component, part or accessory of a tobacco product. E-liquids that do not contain nicotine or other substances made or derived from tobacco may still be components or parts and, therefore, subject to the FDA’s tobacco control authorities.
Cassels-Smith says that Zanoprima has filed multiple global patents for its technologies and has also begun the process of filing drug master files with the FDA for SyNic nicotine, SyNic bitartrate and SyNic polacrilex resin. “Coupled with e-LiquiTech’s exclusive distribution, competitive pricing and carrying the e-LiquiTech guarantee, these products will be available only to responsible partners operating within the regulatory guidelines of the global tobacco industry, said Cassels-Smith. “The synthetic nicotine is cleaner than naturally derived nicotine because it has no TSNAs. These nitrosamines have the potential to turn into carcinogens. SyNic will not have any nitrosamines and is 100 percent carcinogenic-free by design.”
E-LiquiTech’s synthetic nicotine resembles its naturally derived cousin. Like a naturally derived liquid nicotine, e-LiquiTech’s new synthetic nicotine is more than 99 percent pure (S)-nicotine. This purity of (S)-nicotine has a better effect on the body, and SyNic carries fewer impurities than naturally derived nicotine that comes from leaf tobacco.
“Nicotine exists in nature in two forms, (R) isomer and (S) isomer. One is basically a mirror image of the other, but the nicotine desired by vapers and smokers alike is the (S)-nicotine alone. Naturally grown tobacco contains over 99 percent (S)-nicotine, and the rest is very little (R),” says Cassels-Smith. “The body considers (R)-nicotine a filler with substantially less physiological effect. It’s considered a waste product, and [the body] does not absorb it. SyNic is slightly superior to the (S)-nicotine content found in a naturally derived nicotine because of its higher levels of (S)-nicotine with qualified and quantified impurities.”
Traditionally, a problem for the producers of synthetic nicotine has been that the entire production process is both complicated and expensive. As a chiral molecule, nicotine is far easier to produce as a synthetic nicotine with equal amounts of both (R) isomers and (S) isomers compared to a nearly pure (S)-nicotine. “(R)-[nicotine]/(S)-nicotine requires additional refining processes, which [are] time consuming and expensive to convert it to a true synthetic (S)-nicotine,” explains Cassels-Smith. “Also, because (R)-nicotine has substantially [fewer] physiological properties, it takes twice as much 50/50 synthetic nicotine in an e-liquid to achieve parity with SyNic. Because SyNic has greater than 99.7 percent (S), it only needs half the amount of SyNic to create the same effect for users as current synthetic nicotine offerings on the market.”
Naturally derived nicotine and synthetic nicotine are identical on a molecular level. The differences are the individual or potential impurities. Nicotine derived from tobacco can contain potentially harmful impurities if it is not purified sufficiently. That can be very difficult and costly because the impurities appear structurally very similar to the nicotine molecule itself. But synthetic nicotine is virtually free of any impurities from the beginning and none are carcinogenic.
SyNic, by design, carries no heavy metals and contains no residual pesticides. Additionally, unlike tobacco-derived nicotine that uses harsh acids and chemical solvents in its process, SyNic, is produced using a “green chemistry” method. “Its manufacturing is environmentally friendly, and any solvent used is recovered completely before being recycled for future use,” explains Cassels-Smith. “The SyNic process makes the tobacco-derived nicotine process appear dirty by comparison.”
SyNic will help manufacturers meet the FDA’s goals by consistently creating high-quality nicotine to deliver to the consumer without the possibility of potential carcinogens, according to Cassels-Smith. “We will allow vaping products to have the cleanest delivery and the best delivery,” he says. “That isn’t going to happen with the old technology. SyNic is a new frontier and a perfect tool for this industry to reinvent itself. It is constantly developing and reinventing itself. This product can help make all tobacco products better.”
Because of its unique patented process, Cassels-Smith says SyNic can achieve price parity with tobacco-derived nicotine. He adds, however, that this synthetic product will always be marketed at a higher cost than naturally derived nicotine to ensure there will always remain a naturally derived pedigreed nicotine market where the tobacco farmer can sell his crops.
“We have a lot of respect for the natural product and foresee our synthetic nicotine being a compliment to those that wish to remain all natural. There is enough room in the market for everybody. SyNic, with its known qualities, will have a place at the table alongside pedigreed natural tobacco-derived nicotine. But there are issues with nicotine sourced from scrap and dust as traceability is impossible and controlling pesticide and heavy metal contamination is problematic,” Cassels-Smith explains. “I foresee a future requiring the tracing of [natural] nicotine’s origin from the seed and soil through the extraction process and also quantifying impurities, all in cGMP facilities.”
SyNic’s potential is unlimited in the number of products in which it could be used. Cassels-Smith says that he cannot think of a single nicotine product that could not benefit from SyNic. In a heat-not-burn product, for example, during the rod-making process, SyNic could augment the prevalent nicotine source—or even be the sole source.
“Zanoprima has adapted their SyNic technology and patented an extremely unique and stable nicotine salt that does not use organic acids and retains pH stability,” he says. “SyNic also has the potential for being associated with superior purity and shelf life stability in all tobacco products of the future. SyNic will raise the bar, and we are just scratching the surface. It is a great tool that emerges at the perfect time for every tobacco product designer. The portfolio of potential products that can utilize SyNic is infinite.”
Timothy Donahue is the assistant editor
of Tobacco Reporter. Since joining our team in
January 2013, he has become not only an
expert on the traditional tobacco business but
also a well-respected voice in the rapidly developing
vapor industry. Tim spends much of his time on the
road, attending conferences and interviewing industry representatives.
His networking skills, work ethic and quick mind
are valuable assets to our diverse audience.
The Juul System may deliver a sufficiently satisfying level nicotine to compete with combustible cigarettes for adult smokers, according to new research.
Published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the clinical study compared the nicotine delivery profile of the Juul System with other nicotine-containing products, including cigarettes, to assess their pharmacokinetic profiles. The study found that while the initial nicotine delivery for the Juul System was similar to that of combustible cigarettes, the maximum and total amount of nicotine delivered was lower than that of combustible cigarettes, on par with another ENDS product, and higher than nicotine gum.
“When considering laws and regulations governing nicotine, policymakers should bear in mind that providing a similar nicotine effect and experience to combustible cigarettes is critical to facilitate an adult smoker’s transition away from smoking,” said Mark Rubinstein, vice president of science at Juul Labs in a statement. “E-cigarettes have the potential to displace combustible cigarettes, but only if they deliver nicotine at levels to satisfy smokers.”
Three e-cigarette advocacy groups are asking California State General Assembly to repeal the state’s ban on flavored vaping products. The group’s leaders say an estimated 900,000 former smokers in California could be forced to switch back to smoking if the bill (CA SB793) is not overturned by referendum or repealed.
Greg Conley
“Unless California lawmakers want to force hundreds of thousands of vapers back to smoking, they need to reconsider this flavor ban,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association (AVA). “While voting for bans may make legislators feel righteous, the reality is that prohibition is failed public policy and never works for adult consumer products.”
The World Vapers’ Alliance, Consumer Choice Center (CCC) and the AVA, which combined represent hundreds of thousands of consumers, sent a letter to members of the California State Assembly members urging them to repeal the flavored tobacco ban bill in California to avoid pushing vapers back to combustible cigarettes.
“Instead of improving public health by reducing the number of smokers, this law will have the opposite effect: more people smoking again,” said Yaël Ossowski, deputy director at the CCC. “Moreover, these measures will push people into the illegal market and will also have a disproportionate impact on people of color, who overwhelmingly prefer flavored products and would suffer the most from criminalization and over-policing in our local communities.”
The EU is set to impose new tariffs on American tobacco this week.
In response to a fight over how much aid is given to airplane manufacturers, the EU had indicated about a month ago that it would seek approval from the World Trade Organization for retaliatory tariffs against the United States.
The new tariffs will include a 25 percent tax on American agricultural goods; on that list are “tobacco, nuts and seeds, spirits, sauces, soups and syrups, self-propelled shovel loaders, tractors and proteins,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
The EU is the world’s second-largest importer of U.S. tobacco.
Though the trade war has focused on aviation, American agriculture has been seen by the EU and by China as a particularly vulnerable sector to hit, both for its importance to the American economy and because farmers are generally seen as part of President Donald Trump’s base.
American tobacco farmers are already suffering from tariffs imposed by China as part of an ongoing trade dispute.
EU leaders are reportedly optimistic that President-Elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration will be more amenable to ending the trade wars than the current administration, but with American tariffs on European Airbus planes already in place, the EU felt it had no choice but to institute tariffs of its own.
Vaping in now illegal in many public places for Kiwis. New Zealand passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act in August, with restrictions to be phased in over a 15-month period.
The first raft of measures, which began on Nov. 11, prohibit the use of e-cigarettes in workplaces, schools, early childhood education and care centers, according to an article in The Daily Mail.
Nancy Loucas, Director of Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy, encouraged New Zealand’s 200,000 vapers “to think a little more” before they vape.
“The general rule is if you wouldn’t smoke there, you shouldn’t vape there,” she said. “The likes of shopping malls, and around schools and childcare centers are a no no. At the same time, many councils have made their outdoor city center areas and council parks vape-free as well.”
New Zealand’s new act also prohibits advertising and sponsorship related to vaping products. But the AVCA is concerned treating vaping like smoking will lead to further stigmatization.
“Employers will still be able to permit vaping in a company vehicle, with some very workable provisions in place,” Loucas said. “Patients in hospital care or rest home residents can vape within a dedicated room for vaping, provided there is the likes of adequate ventilation. At the same time, a good employer would dedicate an outside area to vaping, where employees feel comfortable taking a vape break. Vaping is now effectively banned where smoking is, but it’s by no means banned outright. Instead, it’s finally a totally legalized activity for New Zealand adults, albeit now more tightly regulated.”
The rise of cashless payments in Japan is helping breach an invisible barrier to raising cigarette prices, according to an article in Nikkei Asia.
Japan’s tobacco companies have long held on to an unwritten rule to never raise the cost of a pack of cigarettes above ¥500 ($4.79), the domination of the country’s most valuable coin.
That barrier allowed for easy transactions. A consumer could walk into a shop, slap loose change on the counter and walk away with a pack.
The penetration of cashless transactions, however, has eased price sensitivity, according to Naohiro Minami, chief financial officer at Japan Tobacco.
After the company raised the cost of some cigarette products by ¥50 on Oct. 1, it experienced less “rush demand” than anticipated.
Driven in part by the coronavirus pandemic, cashless payments reached a 27 percent of all transactions last year, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Compared with other nations, however, Japan’s rate of cashless transactions remains low. Great Britain and China boast more than 60 percent penetration, according to METI, and the proportion in South Korea is above 90 percent.
Marijuana has been legalized in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota, Mississippi and Montana in a series of ballot initiatives accompanying the U.S. presidential election.
On Nov. 4, 2020, the majority of New Jersey and Arizona residents voted to approve constitutional amendments that would legalize marijuana for people over the age of 21. Since both states already allow marijuana for medical use, the next steps for New Jersey and Arizona would be to establish rules for regulation to implement the new policy and establish permits for vendors. According to a New Jersey analysis, “the cannabis market could generate around $126 million a year” for the state’s economy.
Voters in South Dakota approved marijuana for medical use. South Dakota has a second ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana, but on Nov. 10 the votes were still being counted. Mississippi voters approved an initiative to establish a medical marijuana program for patients with debilitating conditions. Voters in Montana voted for two initiatives to legalize, regulate and tax recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older, according to the Great Falls Tribune.
Eleven other states (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Alaska) and the District of Columbia already allowed legal recreational marijuana use prior to Election Day.
The global industrial hemp market size is expected to reach $15.26 billion by 2027, exhibiting a revenue-based compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent over the forecast period, according to Grand View Research. Additionally, according to Global Market Insights, the cannabidiol (CBD) market exceeded $2.8 billion in 2019 and is set to grow at around 52.7 percent CAGR between 2020 and 2026, with the global market valuation for CBD crossing $89 billion by 2026.
