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  • Turning Point Appoints Graham Purdy as CEO

    Turning Point Appoints Graham Purdy as CEO

    Photo: jirsak

    Turning Point Brands appointed Graham Purdy as CEO and board director, effective Oct. 16, 2022, following Yavor Efremov’s resignation as CEO and director. Additionally, David Glazek will transition from nonexecutive to executive board chairman, effective January 2023.

    Purdy will lead TPB’s strategy, execution and operations, with a focus on growing and maximizing the value of the company’s portfolio of brands. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Purdy served as TBP’s chief operating officer since 2019. Since joining TPB in 2004, Purdy has held various leadership positions, including president of the new ventures division and senior vice president of sales.

    During his tenure at TPB, Purdy oversaw two successful brand extensions, rolling out Zig-Zag Cigar Wraps and Stoker’s MST. In addition, he built an effective sales organization driven by an industry-leading performance management system, positioned a number of successful new products and led the integration of many of the company’s most important strategic initiatives. Purdy led day-to-day operations during the Covid-9 pandemic, managing complex challenges while completing three of the most successful years in the company’s history.

    “Graham is a highly experienced operator who has been integral to Turning Point’s success. His deep knowledge of the company’s operations and industry make him ideally suited to lead TPB today. We are confident in his ability to oversee Turning Point’s brand strategy and sharpen the company’s operational focus,” said Glazek, chairman of TPB’s board of directors, in a statement.

    “The board would also like to thank Mr. Efremov for his many contributions during his tenure. In the last year, he has launched key initiatives, including the expansion of our distribution platform, enhancing our IT infrastructure and adding new leadership talent. We wish him well going forward.”

    “I am excited to serve as Turning Point’s next CEO and drive the company’s strategic priorities to enhance shareholder value,” said Purdy. “Over the past three decades, Turning Point has built a leading industry position through our portfolio of large and leading brands, innovative marketing and omni-channel distribution capabilities, along with our strong track record of new product innovation. I look forward to working with our highly talented team to continue to build a world-class consumer products company for the benefit of our employees, customers and shareholders.”

    “I am proud of what we have accomplished in a short period of time and the progress that has been made on key initiatives over the past year,” said Efremov. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as CEO and meet and work alongside the many hardworking and dedicated employees of Turning Point.”

  • Chinese and European Vapor Groups Sign Marketing Code

    Chinese and European Vapor Groups Sign Marketing Code

    Photo: IEVA

    The E-Cigarette Professional Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC) has signed the Independent European Vape Alliance’s (IEVA) recently updated Code for Responsible Marketing.

    The Code for Responsible Marketing contains 14 mandatory principles, focusing on the idea that “e-cigarette marketing should not make vaping seem appealing to minors.”

    “As confident as we are that e-cigarettes have significant harm reduction potential, we also recognize that they must be marketed responsibly,” said Dustin Dahlmann, president of IEVA, in a statement.

    “The signatories therefore only address adult smokers and e-cigarette users with their advertising and marketing to inform them about the products. Youth protection is imperative for us. We are very glad that we agreed on this with our dear colleagues from China.”

  • BAT Conducts New Study of Velo

    BAT Conducts New Study of Velo

    Photo: BAT

    BAT has conducted a cross-sectional clinical study of Velo, which is designed to provide new insights into the real-world health impact of its modern oral nicotine pouch product compared to smoking. Protocol details explaining the design have been published in the journal JMIR Research Protocols.

    The study evaluates exposure to certain toxicants and early indicators associated with smoking-related disease in people who have been exclusively using Velo for over six months and compares them with groups of smokers, former smokers and never-smokers.

    The results are currently being analyzed and will be published by the end of the year.

    “Modern oral nicotine pouches are an exciting product category, which build upon the extensive scientific evidence available for snus but are designed to offer adult consumers an improved tobacco-free, reduced-risk alternative,” said Sharon Goodall, BAT’s group head of regulatory sciences, in a statement.

    “We have already generated data that shows Velo has a toxicant profile better than snus and is comparable to nicotine-replacement therapy. However, we wanted to generate further evidence to demonstrate the important contribution it can make to tobacco harm reduction. I believe the results of this study will provide important new information, and we look forward to sharing them once available.”

  • RLX Releases Annual CSR Report

    RLX Releases Annual CSR Report

    RLX Technology has released its annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) report Envisaging a Better Future, highlighting its efforts in market responsibility, research and development investment, environment protection, employee careers and corporate governance.

    According to the report, RLX has strengthened its commitment to product quality and vaping science. Since its inception, RLX has invested RMB800 million ($111.1 million) in research and development. RLX operates eight laboratories and has developed a research chain covering product quality, physiochemical research, toxicology research, long-term impact assessment and clinical research.

    In March 2021, RLX launched the first e-cigarette clinical research project in China. In February 2022, RLX started the first clinical study on the safety of e-cigarettes in China. The results of various research projects were published in prominent academic journals such as Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety and the Chinese Journal of Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

    By June 2022, RLX had applied for over 610 patents covering vaping device design, e-liquid formula, electric control, smart device and released content.

    Environment protection is another highlight in RLX’s CSR report. In September 2021, RLX started the Pods Reborn recycling program with China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. By June 2022, the program had been carried out in 188 Chinese cities. More than 16,000 stores have been equipped with a used pods recycling bin.

    As part of the Amur Tiger and Leopard Conservation Project, RLX has planted 20 ha of eco-fields in Jilin Province to ensure sufficient food supply for these endangered species. RLX has also organized a patrol team to remove animal traps. By the end of 2021, the RLX Tech Patrol Team had patrolled 12,600 kilometers.

    In April 2022, RLX launched its net-zero carbon emission plan Aim for Zero to achieve carbon neutrality in its direct operations by 2033 and along the value chain by 2050.

    As part of this project, RLX will take eight major initiatives, including plastic reduction, waste reduction, promoting the Pods Reborn program, establishing a green supply chain partner mechanism, reducing product carbon footprint and introducing zero-carbon products, creating a zero-carbon plant and a green store and reducing carbon footprint in the office and during business travel.

    By the end of 2021, RLX had opened more than 24,000 stores in more than 300 cities, creating about 370,000 jobs across the industry chain.

    “In more than four years of entrepreneurship, one of the things we are particularly proud of is our dedication to fulfilling our social responsibility,” said Kate Wang, founder and CEO of RLX Tech, in a statement. “RLX Tech sees social responsibility as one of its core competitive advantages. It is also our duty as corporate citizens.”

  • Asia Harm Reduction Forum Set for Oct. 28

    Asia Harm Reduction Forum Set for Oct. 28

    The Fifth Asia Harm Reduction Forum (AHRF 2022) will take place Oct. 28 at the Manila Hotel in the Philippines.

    Under the title “Integrating Harm Reduction in Asian Policies: A Major Win for Public Health,” the forum will cover the merits of harm reduction as the most effective tool to address the smoking epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Ron Sison

    “This key event comes at a critical turning point, as tobacco harm reduction (THR) takes root in several Asian countries,” says AHRF 2022 Lead Convenor Ron Sison, who is also president of the Harm Reduction Alliance of the Philippines.

    A hybrid event, AHRF 2022 will engage scientists, consumers, legislators and policymakers. The sessions will be streamed live on the AHRF YouTube channel and Facebook page.

    “Asia is actively tackling the steps toward securing a smoke-free future,” says Peter Dator, president of Vapers PH, a consumer group. “The Philippines recently lifted its vaping ban, regulating the importation, manufacture, sale and marketing of vaping products. Malaysia and Thailand are also set to regulate, thanks to the sheer weight of scientific evidence and the hard work of THR advocates.”

    “Despite more countries supporting vaping, we must remain vigilant and active in our THR discussions and advocacy,” says Asa Saligupta, director of ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand. “Let’s not forget the most convincing smoking cessation devices remain illegal in many parts of Asia-Pacific. We’ve got plenty of work to do, with AHRF 2022 key to this region’s future success.”

  • K&H Announces E-Vapor Symposium

    K&H Announces E-Vapor Symposium

    The law firm Keller and Heckman will holds its Annual E-Vapor and Tobacco Law Symposium Feb. 15–16, 2023, at the Courtyard Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, California, USA.

    This year’s program will feature topics designed to help vapor and deemed tobacco product manufacturers stay in compliance with rapidly evolving laws and policies.

    The conference will cover marketing denial orders, FDA proposed rulemakings and youth access prevention plans, among other topics.

    For more information, please visit the symposium information webpage.

  • Brian King

    Brian King

    Photo: Chris Ferenzi

    There are plenty of reservations about the way in which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has handled its responsibilities. During a brief speech at the GTNF 2022 in Washington, D.C., the new director of the CTP, Brian King, did little to quell those concerns. He did, however, acknowledge the continuum of risk. “We do have certain products that are lower risk than combustible cigarettes, and that’s an important component of the dialogue,” said King.

    King told attendees that there is an opportunity for the CTP to assess the risk of youth vaping initiation and counterbalance that with the opportunity for adults who use e-cigarettes to quit combustible cigarettes.

    “I think that [the] public health standard is pretty critical to the work we do, and it’s definitely a guiding light in terms of my determinations and decision-making,” he said. “Ultimately, it comes down to the science … it’s very critical, to me, to ensure that we use that as our guiding light. And of course, the onus is on the applicants to ensure that they are providing the most robust signs possible to inform decision-making.”

    The FDA has long been criticized for its handling of the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process and is currently defending multiple lawsuits from vapor companies challenging its marketing denial orders (MDOs), including two from Juul Labs, which recently filed a lawsuit over the regulatory agency’s refusal to disclose documents supporting its MDO.

    Juul claims the agency overlooked more than 6,000 pages of the data it submitted on the aerosols that users inhale, according to Joe Murillo, chief regulatory officer at Juul Labs, who also spoke at the conference.

    King said that a sizeable portion of youth are still vaping flavored and disposable products. However, he also said that the potential benefits for adult smokers are “mutually exclusive” from youth uptake concerns. “I don’t think that they necessarily have to be separate; they can certainly be explored concurrently,” he said. “But again, we need to ensure that we’re considering the science from both ends when making our decisions.”

    King said the agency is “continuing to make progress” on the estimated 1 million PMTAs for nontobacco nicotine products as well. He said over 90 percent of the applications have been completed. “We have 350 acceptances so far, and there’s about 800,000 that have received an RTA [a ‘refuse-to-accept’ letter], and I’m hopeful that within the next few weeks we should be able to get through all 100 percent of those 1 million.”

    Being accepted for review is only the first step in the PMTA process. There are six stages, or rounds, to the PMTA process. After acceptance is filing, then a substantive review before an action is taken. King called the first step an important one. “[It’s] an important step, and I’m committed to ensuring that we keep things moving as expeditiously as possible,” King said.

    King recently told the AP that he believes “there’s a lot of really important science and innovations” that have occurred in the vaping industry in recent years, adding that the most notable is nicotine salts in e-liquids. “We know that when you smoke a tobacco product, it’s a very efficient way to deliver nicotine across the blood-brain barrier. So it’s been very difficult to rival that efficiency in another product,” said King in the interview. “But in the case of nicotine salts, you have the potential to more efficiently deliver nicotine, which could hold some public health promise in terms of giving smokers enough nicotine that they would transition [off cigarettes] completely.”

    King also discussed the FDA’s ability to force companies to comply with its MDOs. So far, very few companies that have been told to remove their products from the market have complied. King said the agency has multiple enforcement options to bring both manufacturers and retailers to heel.

    “We have several tools available to us, including advisory actions,” he said. “We also have regulatory enforcement actions, including voluntary recalls as well as various other requested recalls. We can also take administrative action, civil money penalties (in terms of manufacturers, that penalty cannot exceed $15,000 for any single violation or $1 million for any number of violations related to a single action),” explained King. “When it comes to judicial action, we can do seizure, injunction and also criminal prosecution. I will say that when it comes to enforcement and compliance, nothing is off the table.”

    King also updated attendees on the FDA’s external review of the CTP’s procedures, which is being conducted by the Reagan-Udall Foundation. Lauren Silvis, a former FDA chief of staff, was named as chair of the panel that has been asked to “evaluate regulatory processes and agency operations related to tobacco to help the center address new challenges as it works to reduce death and disease from tobacco and achieve its public health mission.”

    “Within only a few weeks of assuming this role, we were told that there would be an external evaluation,” said King. “I actually wholly welcome it. I think it’s a good opportunity, particularly with new leadership, to identify areas where we’re doing things very well but also identify areas where we can enhance our efficiency and effectiveness. I have had meetings with [Silvis] and her team, and I’m confident that we’re going to get very useful information.

    “It’s an ambitious timeline, 60 business days, so it’s going to work out to about 90 days total. It should finish probably by the end of the year, mid-December, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to hear the recommendations. And I do have a very open mind on this. I’m always for improvement.”

    King expects there will also be opportunities for external engagement, including listening sessions. He could not provide specifics during the speech but said he welcomes feedback from others in terms of informing the CTP’s processes.

    “It’s not a one-size-fits-all, but I do think that we have some great opportunities here,” he said. “I’m fully committed to listening to the evaluator’s input and ensuring that we use it in a very useful way … then we’ll take it from there … I’m sure many of you have heard publicly, my calendar is rapidly filling up, and we are meeting with many—I know I’ve met with several of you in the room already, and I value those opportunities to meet with folks from across the spectrum, whether it be industry or public health … to hear people’s insights, what your priorities are.

    “And those have been very productive and helpful to me. I do listen. I think it’s a very useful opportunity to me in terms of hearing specifically what the recommendations are from industry and what are areas where you feel it would be useful for FDA to engage in to make your life easier in terms of submissions and applications and [what] processes are overly complicated and could be improved,” said King. “I’m fully committed to ensuring that happens.”

  • Adam Afriyie

    Adam Afriyie

    Photo: Chris Ferenzi

    Adam Afriyie, Member of Parliament for Windsor and vice chair of the All Parliamentary Group on Vaping, examined the successful U.K. approach to tobacco harm reduction and the lessons it might hold for other countries.

    This was an appropriate time to do so, he insisted, with life returning to a semblance of order following the Covid-19 pandemic and regulators around the world poised to make decisions—“life-and-death decisions”—about alternatives to smoking.

    Despite progress, smoking still kills 75,000 people in England yearly. Britain’s National Health Service spends about £2.5 billion ($2.82 billion) annually treating smoking-related illnesses. Every year, tobacco use results in economic losses of £17 billion through ill health, absence and low productivity.

    Afriyie distinguished four elements in the U.K. approach, which started with Britain setting a target to make smoking obsolete by 2030.

    Second, the government and the health establishment accepted the evidence that vaping and other smoking cessation products, such as patches, pouches and snus, are all part of the legitimate arsenal of weapons against smoking—a conclusion that was reinforced by the Department of Health’s conclusion that vaping is at least 95 percent less risky than smoking. “What matters is the relative harm,” said Afriyie. Rather than relying on conjecture, emotion or the fear of Big Tobacco, the government relied on data, he noted.

    Third, the government regulated vaping as consumer product, setting minimum standards for quality and safety, such as a requirement to sell e-liquids in child-resistant packs. This framework, said Afriyie, allows adults to make informed decisions while protecting children from marketing and harm. All new products must be registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. While vapes are not considered medical products in Britain, this prerequisite installs a discipline among manufacturers to be cognizant of the evidence base behind their offerings, said Afriyie.

    Finally, the government commissioned an independent review of the progress toward its smoke-free objective. Published in June, the Javid Kahn report concluded that Britain would miss its target if it continued on the current trajectory. To get the project back on track, Kahn suggested that vaping must be front and center of the drive to eradicate smoking. In light of widespread misperceptions about vaping—50 percent of general practitioners are unaware that vaping is less harmful than smoking—the report also recommended opening a conduit for the industry to communicate the benefits of switching from cigarettes to vapes directly to smokers.

    While Afriyie was inspired by the level of technical innovations in nicotine-delivery products, he was less encouraged by the equally important innovation or evolution of regulatory frameworks internationally. For example, while heat-not-burn products have been thriving in Japan, vapes are nearly impossible to access in that country because they are treated as medical products rather than consumer products.

    The World Health Organization, too, should adopt the U.K. approach, according to Afriyie. Unfortunately, the global health body’s direction of travel, he said, appears to be made in “smoke-filled” rooms, lacking transparency. Rather than basing its policies on science, said Afriyie, the WHO’s stance on tobacco harm reduction products appears to be subject to influences that are not directly to do with public health.

    Concluding his presentation, Afriyie addressed each of the stakeholders in the tobacco harm reduction debate. “My message to smokers is please stop. And if you can’t stop, choose a vaping device or a heat-not-burn product—but move on. My message to investors: Britain is open for business.” His comment drew good-natured laughter, but Afriyie was only half joking, reminding his audience that when it comes to smoking cessation products, Britain is a gateway to the world. “The U.K. regulatory imprimatur on your documentation is a sign of quality and an aid to marketing and acceptance around the globe,” he said.

    “My message to industry: Be good. Conduct open, honest research,” said Afriyie. “If the answers aren’t exactly what you want, don’t hide the results. Every bit of extra information and knowledge that we gain through research is useful.” To regulators, Afriyie stressed the importance of following the science. “Follow the U.K.,” he said. “Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

  • Science, technology and innovation

    Science, technology and innovation

    Photo: Chris Ferenzi

    Continuous innovation is crucial to the tobacco industry’s transformation process. A substantial part of it is driven by freshly recruited talents from fields not linked to the sector in the past, such as consumer electronics. Despite their far-reaching consequences, the massive changes in the tobacco industry over the last decade have gone largely unnoticed on the outside, causing outdated stereotypes to persist and making talent acquisition challenging.

    To be successful, employers must understand what great talents want today, said Steve Marley, founder and CEO of Ashwood International. “They seek inspirational leadership, flexibility and autonomy; there must be a sense of value and purpose in their job, and they want an inclusive workplace. To attract the best, companies need to make a stance—they must embed environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals in their talent acquisition strategy, build a progressive value proposition and broaden their talent reach.” Today, employees are no longer human resources, but stakeholders, Marley added. “The sooner a company realizes that, the more attractive it will be.”

    Carlista Moore Conde, group head of new sciences at BAT, echoed Marley’s points. Coming from a background in consumer goods, she said she joined BAT because she was attracted to its purpose—helping adult smokers quit combustible cigarettes. Her uncle had died in his mid-sixties from a tobacco-related disease. “To manage consumer satisfaction risk, disruptive science and innovation is required,” she said. “In product development, nicotine companies need to ask themselves the same questions as other fast-moving consumer goods companies and can perhaps learn from them—their products do not only have to taste good but need to give emotional and social benefits as well.”

    In recruiting, innovation in the tobacco industry has made a huge difference, said Philip Evans, senior advisor at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCG has investigated the issues of trust and reputation that continue to haunt the tobacco sector. “The trustworthiness of a company goes up and down with the industry,” explained Evans. “Trust is slow to build and quick to destroy. For companies, it is important to carry a sense of purpose at every opportunity. The issue of trustworthiness in different countries is co-related and needs to be worked at.”

    Deepak Mishra, president of the Americas region at Philip Morris International, emphasized the shift toward consumer centricity in R&D, which didn’t exist in the industry 10 or 15 years ago. “We need to understand the needs of consumers. Creating a matching portfolio that gets adult smokers to switch to less hazardous products is critical.” He named misinformation, a hindrance through flawed science, as continuous external impediment. “It is getting better every year, but education of the consumer remains important,” he said.

    As important issues for the future, panelists singled out partnering across the industry and a clear model of innovation. Players seeking to merely follow the leading companies in their process of transformation should recognize that no company can ride on the tails of another company—every player is responsible for its own transformation.

  • Brad Rodu

    Brad Rodu

    Photo: Chris Ferenzi

    Brad Rodu, a U.S.-based professor working at the University of Louisville Department of Medicine’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center, delivered a short, sharp shock to attendees at the recent GTNF.

    His presentation was short, under 10 minutes in length, and therefore, by necessity, sharply focused on what was a shocking message, though one that, in different forms, GTNF participants have become all too used to hearing.

    “The mission of a tobacco-free society drives the tobacco control industry, and it is driving bad tobacco science, which is not being addressed either pre-publication by peer reviewers, or post-publication, in any systematic way,” Rodu said at the end of his presentation. “And these … studies, if they are left alone, if they’re not challenged, they are going to deter smokers from switching [from combustible cigarettes to less risky tobacco and nicotine products]. We’ve already seen that, and we’ve had presentations about that. And I believe they will support harsh and unfair regulation.”

    That needs some context, which Rodu provided at the start of his presentation when he told his audience that the U.S. federal government’s mission, the focus of its tobacco program, was aimed at creating a tobacco-free society. Under this program, hundreds of millions of dollars were being transferred from the Food and Drug Administration to the National Institutes of Health, and from there to universities around the U.S. for funding research on tobacco products.

    The issue here is not that this research is being carried out but the way in which it is being carried out. Rodu said that a lot of the research was beset with problems, and he put up a slide showing a list of studies that he and his team had looked at critically and had commented on formally: reviews that could be found on the websites of the journals that had published the original research or on the websites of other journals. The list of studies was formidable, so he mentioned just a few. His team had looked, for instance, at the finding that the U.S.’ smoking population had been “softening” and that harm reduction was therefore unnecessary, a finding—a suggestion—that would have left many in the audience agape. They had looked, too, at the finding that vaping by teenagers was causing them to smoke, that tobacco product use of any sort was increasing mortality, that vaping by teenagers was related to Covid and that vaping by adults was causing heart attacks …. The last-mentioned finding Rodu described as the most famous one because his team had had that paper retracted.

    Rodu then highlighted recent studies that basically claimed to have found that vaping is associated with myocardial infarctions or heart attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, emphysema, other pulmonary disorders, strokes and other medical conditions. In reporting these diseases, the researchers had claimed to have statistically accounted for smoking. But Rodu said these claims were completely unreliable, and he described why.

    Rodu and his team found that none of the studies had information about the ages when participants had started smoking, started vaping or when they were first diagnosed with these diseases. When Rodu’s team analyzed the FDA Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health data, which contained this information, they found that all but a tiny percentage of diseases were diagnosed after participants started smoking but before they started vaping. And the small number of people who were diagnosed with diseases about the time they started vaping had all been smokers, making it highly unlikely that those diseases had been caused by vaping.

    Rodu said the bottom line was that studies that did not take into account the ages of people when they started to vape and smoke, and when these vapers and smokers became ill, were unreliable.