Category: News This Week

UK to Launch Vaping ‘Enforcement Squads’

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The U.K. is set to launch “illicit vapes enforcement squads” as part of a crackdown on the illegal sale of e-cigarettes to youth under the age of 18, reports Sky News.
Led by Trading Standards, the squads will work across the country and share knowledge across regional networks and local authorities.
The government says its priority is to prevent people from smoking and to support them to quit. It has admitted vaping is a preferable alternative for adults.
However, it recognizes it has issues with illegal sales to children and illicit vapes being introduced into the market.
Neil O’Brien, the health minister who will unveil the new plans, said the new illicit vapes enforcement squad will work across the country and clamp down on those businesses that sell vapes to children.
“Our call for evidence will also allow us to get a firm understanding of the steps we can take to reduce the number of children accessing and using vapes,” he said.
Smoker rights group Forest welcomed the knowledge-focused approach. “Education is always better than coercion, so we’re pleased the government appears to favor the carrot not the stick approach to smoking cessation,” said Forest director Simon Clark.
“Vaping is a significantly less harmful alternative to smoking, so it makes sense to encourage smokers to switch to e-cigarettes.
“If, however, adult smokers still prefer to smoke tobacco, government must respect that choice.”
April 11, 2023
Juul Labs Settles with West Virginia

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West Virginia has reached a settlement agreement with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs in litigation about the company’s advertising and marketing practices, according to state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
Juul Labs has agreed to pay the state $7.9 million, based on accusations that the company violated West Virginia’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act, according to media reports.
The company was accused of “engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the manufacturing, designing, selling, marketing, promoting and distributing of e-cigarettes” in the state, especially promotions targeting underage users, according to Morrisey.
“This settlement puts companies like Juul in check to not copy Big Tobacco’s playbook and gear marketing strategies toward underage people,” he said. “In Juul’s case, we have alleged it has deceived consumers about its nicotine strength, misrepresented the nicotine equivalency of its products to traditional cigarettes and understated the risks of addiction that occur with such powerful levels of nicotine.”
The settlement represents “yet another step in Juul Labs’ ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the company’s past,” said Austin Finan, vice president of corporate communications at Juul Labs.
“The terms of the agreement, like prior settlements, provide financial resources to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs, and they reflect our current business practices, which were implemented as part of our company-wide reset in the fall of 2019,” Finan said. “With West Virginia having the highest cigarette smoking rate in the U.S., we hope that some funds will go directly to interventions to reduce the use of combustible cigarettes and improve public health in the state.”
Juul has now settled with “40 states and territories, providing hundreds of millions of dollars to the participating states,” according to Finan.
April 11, 2023
UK Smokers Encouraged to Swap Cigs for Vapes

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Up to 1 million smokers will be encouraged to swap their cigarettes for vapes, according to the British government. Pregnant women will be offered financial incentives to switch, reports Reuters.
“Up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking. Cigarettes are the only product on sale which will kill you if used correctly,” Health Minister Neil O’Brien will say in a speech later on Tuesday, the government said.
“We will offer a million smokers new help to quit. We will be funding a new national ‘swap to stop’ scheme—the first of its kind in the world.”
April 11, 2023
Call for Measures to Limit Nicotine Harm

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The Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) has called for the government to look into measures to limit harm and exposure of youth to nicotine after the Health Ministry exempted nicotine liquids and gels from the Poisons Act 1952, reports The Star.
“We are deeply aggrieved by the decision of the Health Ministry and the government to continue with its move to remove nicotine liquid and gel preparations from the poisons list for the purposes of using it for electronic cigarettes and electric vaporizing devices in the form of liquid or gel,” the MCTC said.
“This move had been carried out despite exhortations and pleas from thousands of health professionals including those within the MCTC umbrella.
“We are deeply concerned with the dangerous precedent that this has set where the health of Malaysians, especially children and young people, have been put at risk merely for the idea of raising revenue.
“There is little transparency available on actual taxation measures, so it is not understood in terms of timelines on when actual tax collection would actually even begin.”
“We urge the Health Ministry and federal government to ensure the wellbeing of its people are looked into, with short-term, mid-term and long-term measures.
“For short-term measures, the government needs to put active measures in place to limit the exposure of children and young people to nicotine in vaping and other e-cigarette devices. This may be done via cooperation with other agencies and ministries since there are no significant health legislative tools which may be used to limit harm at this point.
“Mid-term measures include the need to table the Control of Tobacco Products and Smoking Bill as per its original intent and content as quickly as possible. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has given his commitment that this will be done in the next Parliament meeting in May, and we implore that this timeline be adhered to. Within the bill are comprehensive measures for vaping and electronic cigarettes—including key measures prohibiting its use to those under 18,” the council said.
The MCTC said long-term measures should include a comprehensive strategy to contain and control nicotine addiction.
April 10, 2023
Tobacco Used to Create Moth Pheromones

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Scientists have used Nicotiana benthamiana, a species of tobacco, to produce the sex pheromone of two moth species, which could potentially help cut down on pesticides, according to Tech Explorist.
By using precision gene engineering techniques, scientists at the Earlham Institute in Norwich have been able to turn tobacco plants into solar-powered factories for moth sex pheromones.
To trap or divert male insects from mating, farmers can place pheromone dispersers in their crops to mimic the signals of female insects.
“Synthetic biology can allow us to engineer plants to make a lot more of something they already produced, or we can provide the genetic instructions that allow them to build new biological molecules, such as medicines or these pheromones,” said Nicola Patron, the study’s principal investigator and director of the Earlham Institute’s Synthetic Biology Group.
“As we increase the efficiency, too much energy is diverted away from normal growth and development,” Patron added. “The plants are producing a lot of pheromones, but they’re not able to grow very large, which essentially reduces the capacity of our production line. Our new research provides a way to regulate gene expression with much more subtlety.”
“We’ve shown we can control the levels of expression of each gene relative to the others. This allows us to control the ratio of products that are made.”
“Getting that recipe right is particularly important for moth pheromones as they’re often a blend of two or three molecules in specific ratios. Our collaborators in Spain are now extracting the plant-made pheromones and testing them in dispensers to see how well they compare to female moths.”
April 10, 2023
Judge: Reynolds Can Continue to Sell Vuse

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A Virginia federal judge denied a permanent injunction request from Philip Morris International (PMI) to bar R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. from selling vaping devices that a jury found violated PMI patents. In the order, the judge stated that banning the devices would harm public health.
However, RJRV was ordered to pay a modest patent royalty to its rival PMI. Judge Leonie Brinkeina of the Eastern District of Virginia stated that RJRV is required to pay a royalty of 1.8 percent of net sales for infringing on a patent used in Vuse Alto cartridges, and a 2.2 percent royalty for infringing on a patent used in Vuse Solo G2 cartridges, reports the Winston-Salem Journal.
The royalties will be enforced for the remaining life of the patents. The royalties will be paid quarterly, retroactive to June 16. PMI said that if a permanent injunction was not approved, it requested a 33.5 percent royalty on the Alto cartridges and a 3.75 percent royalty on the Solo G2 cartridges.
The royalties are on top of jury awards in 2022 that totaled $10.91 million for the Alto infringement and $3.16 million for the Solo G2 infringement.
PMI said in a statement that “while we continue to review the court’s decision, we reiterate our gratitude to the jury for its finding that BAT’s affiliate RJR infringed two of our patents with its Vuse products, its confirmation of BAT’s obligation to pay us damages, and its vindication of our industry-leading investments in smoke-free technologies, such as e-vapor.”
RJRV said in a statement that “while we welcome the decision to reject an injunction, we are disappointed with the underlying verdict regarding patent validity and infringement.”
“R.J. Reynolds Vapor is currently evaluating next steps, including the possibility of an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking reversal of the jury’s verdict regarding patent validity and infringement.”
Brinkeina determined that PMI “has not established that it has suffered irreparable injury” from the patent infringements.
The judge wrote that “(PMI) did not have a significant market (in the U.S.) before Reynolds infringed on its patents, has not demonstrated that it has brand recognition in the U.S. for its products, and has not provided compelling evidence that shows the loss of goodwill in the domestic market.”
Brinkeina also determined that the public’s interest in having potentially harm reduction Alto and Solo G2 cartridges available at retail outweighs ordering a permanent injunction “given the undisputed popularity of Reynolds’ Vuse products.”
In the latest Nielsen report on convenience store sales of tobacco products, top-selling Vuse holds a 42.2 percent market share, compared with Juul at 26.1 percent.
April 10, 2023
Chinese Helping Boost Russia’s Vape Market

The withdrawal of European and American tobacco manufacturers and the gradual reduction of foreign e-cigarette brands doing business in Russia due to its war with Ukraine has allowed for the growth of Chinese e-cigarettes in Russia.
As Russia’s tobacco industry relies heavily on the support and investment of foreign brands, the withdrawal of international tobacco companies will cause a large shortage in the Russian tobacco market, which will lead to a sharp increase in the price of tobacco products sold in Russia, according to iGeekPhone.
By the end of 2021, there were more than 5,000 stores selling e-cigarettes in Russia, including more than 1,100 in the Moscow region.
According to real estate platform DNA REALTY, the number of tobacco shops in Russia grew by at least 20 percent in 2022, with the bulk of their profits coming from e-cigarette sales.
BAT announced it will withdraw from the Russian and Belarusian tobacco markets in 2023. Philip Morris International (PMI) and its subsidiary Fimo International, are also considering retaining their business in Russia because Russia is the seventh-largest tobacco market for PMI.
Japan Tobacco suspended investments in Russia and Imperial Brands transferred its Russian operations to a successor in Russia.
“E-cigarettes have great potential as alternatives to the tobacco market in Russia, where e-cigarette consumers account for 6.8 percent of the total number of smokers,” the article states. “After the United States and Europe, Russia is the world’s third-largest importer of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
“China accounts for 90 percent of the global market. In 2021, China’s exports to Russia reached 82.5 billion rubles. This year it could increase by 35 percent to 111 billion rubles.”
April 10, 2023
Egypt: PM Cigarette Prices Increase

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Prices of 10 types of Philip Morris cigarettes have been raised in Egypt, the Tobacco Division of the Chamber of Commerce announced. The increase went into effect April 6, according to the Egypt Independent.
The increase is attributed to the rise in U.S. dollar price against the Egyptian pound. Ibrahim Imbaby, head of the Tobacco Division at the Chamber of Food Industries with the Federation of Egyptian Industries, confirmed that Philip Morris raised prices as a result of the decline in hard currency management and the rise in production costs.
April 7, 2023
Ispire Technology IPO Price Set
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Ispire Technology Inc. announced that it has priced its initial public offering of 2,700,000 shares of its common stock offered at a price to the public of $7 per share.
In addition, the company also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 405,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, according to a press release.
The shares began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on April 4 under the ticker symbol “ISPR.”
The initial public offering is expected to close on April 6, 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Proceeds from the offering will be used as follows:
Approximately 35 percent to develop manufacturing operations in Vietnam and the United States;
Approximately 25 percent for research and development activities, which include efforts to develop new products and new vaping technology;
Approximately 20 percent for the marketing and promotion of the company’s branded products; and
The balance of approximately 20 percent for general administration and working capital.
U.S. Tiger Securities Inc. is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. TFI Securities and Futures Limited and Prime Number Capital LLC are acting as underwriters for the offering.
In addition, 1,750,000 shares of common stock may be offered by two selling stockholders pursuant to the prospectus.
These shares may be sold from time to time by the selling stockholders, who have not engaged any underwriter in connection with any sales they may make. The company will not receive any proceeds from sales by the selling stockholders.
Previously, Shenzhen-based Aspire Global, parent to Ispire, applied to U.S. regulators to withdraw its New York Stock Exchange listing application.
April 6, 2023
HCD Releases R&D of Fibre Coil

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The international atomizing manufacturer HCD (Huachengda) released new research and development of Fibre Coil technology, reports PR Newswire.
The Fibre Coil is a new generation of technology developed in view of international flavor bans, aiming to solve the problems of the taste of electronic cigarette products and the degree of reduction of the traditional tobacco flavor, according to a press release.
The two most popular carburetor materials in the market are ceramic coil and cotton core. Chen Ping, CEO and chief engineer of HCD, said the current ceramic coils are tough and easy to assemble, but due to technical limitations, their fine and small pore structure leads to unstable liquid discharge, as juices with higher viscosity, such as tobacco flavor, cannot flow smoothly.
“Considering the different characteristics of tobacco flavor and fruit flavor juice, HCD has come up with an optimized tobacco flavor through its evaporator,” said Chen. “Ideally, different flavors of juice would require different evaporators, just as one key only opens one lock.”
To achieve this goal, HCD has invested heavily in research and development to develop a new type of Fibre Coil, which it filed a patent for in 2021. The Fibre Coil is made by breaking the fibers into a pulp and then “sticking together” with an adhesive to ensure the consistency of the material while improving uniformity, stability and vaporization.
Currently, the company has CottonX, a larger coil suitable for disposable e-cigarettes, and Fibre Coil, a smaller, more compact coil still under development for pod system electronic nicotine-delivery system products.
April 6, 2023