Category: News This Week

22nd Century Extends KeyGene Partnership

Photo: stokkete
22nd Century Group will extend and expand its plant research partnership agreement with KeyGene, a global leader in plant research involving high-value genetic traits and increased crop yields. The new partnership agreement extends the length of the collaboration to develop new, disruptive hemp/cannabis plants and intellectual property for the life science, medicinal and pharmaceutical end-use markets.
It also expands the partnership to include research and development activity for noncombustible, alternative tobacco plant applications, such as protein production, and 22nd Century’s third plant franchise, plus it establishes a new governance structure and working model to accelerate development timelines across all three crop/trait programs.
“We have a highly successful relationship with KeyGene, and we are excited to announce this expansion of our partnership that we have been referring to recently,” said James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, in a statement.
“Our KeyGene partnership has proven to be crucial for 22nd Century’s growth and success in the hemp/cannabis space. Since launching our collaboration in 2019, we have achieved much together, including a breakthrough in molecular breeding that will significantly reduce the time needed to develop new hemp/cannabis plant lines with commercially valuable traits.”
We have worked together to make game-changing discoveries in hemp/cannabis genetic research.
Walter Nelson, CEO, KeyGene
“Our partnership with 22nd Century Group has been mutually beneficial, as we have worked together to make game-changing discoveries in hemp/cannabis genetic research,” said Walter Nelson, CEO of KeyGene USA.
“This expanded partnership fits well into KeyGene’s push into integrating metabolomics and proteomics with our capabilities in genomics using innovative informatics tools. I am excited to build on this successful relationship and look forward to what we will be able to accomplish in other crops using our technology innovation platforms.”
May 4, 2021
Bahrain Mulls Request for Tobacco Factories

Photo: Preju
Bahrain’s Shura Council will vote on whether to allow plans to open tobacco manufacturing factories in Bahrain, reports the Gulf Daily News.
However, the council has stated that products produced at the factories should not be sold in Bahrain; they should only be manufactured for export.
The committee also overturned a ban on the import, production and distribution of juices for e-cigarettes and e-shisha.
“In the past, Bahrain was known to be the regional hub for tobacco productions of numerous types with moasil—a shisha tobacco—being the most famous,” said Zayed Alzayani, industry, commerce and tourism minister. “Nowadays, our Bahraini-flavored moasil is being imported from numerous countries like the [United Arab Emirates], Egypt and Jordan. It is being sold using our traditional nametag across the world.”
“We have gotten a request from some investors, from Bahrain and abroad, to open tobacco manufacturing factories in Bahrain with their investments being more than $300 million and offering 400 jobs for Bahrainis, which would be 98 percent of the total workforce,” Alzayani said. “This move would also help provide beneficiary assistance to our logistics, shipping and cargo sectors.”
This move would help provide beneficiary assistance to our logistics, shipping and cargo sectors.
Zayed Alzayani, industry, commerce and tourism minister
Adding tobacco manufacturing would help generate revenue for the government and build necessary infrastructure, according to Alzayani.
Health Ministry officials told the committee that juices are not considered tobacco under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. “We don’t have control over juices since it is not considered tobacco, but that doesn’t mean we cannot monitor the content,” officials added.
Anti-smoking advocates worry that allowing manufacturing would increase the number of smokers in Bahrain.
May 4, 2021
Swedish Match Reports Double-Digit Growth

Photo: Swedish Match
Swedish Match reported sales of SEK4.46 billion ($528.46 million) in the first quarter of 2021, up 11 percent over those in the 2020 first quarter. In local currencies, sales increased by 23 percent.
Reported operating profit from product segments increased by 26 percent to SEK2.09 billion. In local currencies, operating profit from product segments increased by 40 percent.
Operating profit, which includes a settlement income of SEK300 million related to a previously ongoing arbitration concerning nicotine pouches, amounted to SEK2.35 billion.
Profit after tax amounted to SEK1.78 billion.
Continued momentum for ZYN drove strong U.S. performance in the smoke-free product segment. In Scandinavia, strong underlying development was enhanced by timing effects on shipments and Covid-19-related channel mix effects.

We remain encouraged by the strong market growth for the nicotine pouch category as consumers continue to seek satisfying alternatives to cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products.
Lars Dahlgren, CEO, Swedish Match
The cigar business featured record volumes, sales and operating profit on the back of strong category growth and improved price mix.
No major operational Covid-19-related disruptions and Covid-19-related effects in aggregate are estimated to have elevated the reported financial performance.
“Swedish Match delivered an impressive financial performance in the first quarter,” wrote Swedish Match CEO Lars Dahlgren in the company’s interim report. “We remain encouraged by the strong market growth for the nicotine pouch category as consumers continue to seek satisfying alternatives to cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products, and we are excited to be well positioned to participate in this market dynamic.
“I am very pleased with our first-quarter performance and look forward to the opportunities and challenges facing Swedish Match with confidence.”
May 3, 2021
UN Global Compact Asked to Expel ECLT

Photo: Lewis Tse Pui Lung
STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog, has sent a letter to the United Nations asking the organization to remove the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco-Growing (ECLT) foundation as a participant in the U.N. Global Compact.
“We, the undersigned civil society representatives,” the letter reads, “request that the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco-Growing Foundation (ECLT) be removed as a participant to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), in accordance with U.N. policies, including UNGC’s 2017 policy update, the Model Policy for Agencies of the United Nations System on Preventing Tobacco Industry Interference (Model Policy), and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs), which embody the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). ECLT has undeniable ties with the tobacco industry and has failed in its stated objective of ending child labor in tobacco—a problem directly linked to the exploitative business practices of its funders and members.”
STOP cites the ECLT’s connection to tobacco manufacturers and producers as the main reason it should be removed from the UNGC. According to STOP, the tobacco industry’s interest are irreconcilable with the interest of human rights and sustainable development goals and are antithetical to the UNGC’s mission.
“We urge UNGC to act according to its mandate, practice good governance and align its policies with those of U.N. agencies, international bodies and member states that accord with WHO FCTC Article 5.3 and work to protect policy, health and development objectives by rejecting partnerships and interactions with the tobacco industry and its allies. End ECLT’s participation in UNGC,” the authors write.
May 3, 2021
Vaping Group Supports Call to Defund WHO

John Dunne (Photo: UKVIA)
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has joined the chorus of voices condemning the World Health Organization (WHO) for its urging of countries to take an aggressive anti-vaping stance ahead of a crucial health summit later this year.
According to leaked documents reported in the Daily Express, the WHO plans to use November’s COP9 summit in the Netherlands as a platform to tell leading international health figures that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as smoking tobacco.
The UKVIA joins the criticism of the WHO by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Chair Mark Pawsey, MP, who has called into question why the U.K. government is continuing to fund the body to the tune of £340 million ($471.8 million) over the next four years.
The UKVIA notes that this action flies in the face of the scientific reality of vaping in the U.K., which has seen millions of people quit smoking in recent years. Research by British scientists has consistently shown vaping to be the most popular and successful aide to quitting smoking.
The Cochrane Review into e-cigarettes highlights that existing studies show that vaping is nearly 50 percent more effective in helping smokers quit cigarettes than other methods of smoking cessation, according to the UKVIA. The review found that as many as 11 percent of smokers using a nicotine e‐cigarette to stop smoking might successfully stop compared to only 6 percent of smokers using nicotine‐replacement therapy or nicotine‐free e‐cigarettes or 4 percent of people having no support or behavioral support only.
The vaping industry here in the U.K., together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping, is right to call out these baseless attacks on the sector.
John Dunne, director general, UKVIA
There are already 3.2 million adults in Great Britain who have made the switch from smoking. The vaping industry needs to be supported as a British success and able to assist the remaining 6.9 million adult smokers in the U.K., according to the UKVIA.
“The stance of the World Health Organization is extremely concerning,” said John Dunne, UKVIA director general, in a statement. “The vaping industry here in the U.K., together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping, is right to call out these baseless attacks on the sector. Vaping is a great British success story, enabling millions of people to switch from smoking.
“The APPG is also right to call for the U.K. government to reconsider the level of its funding to the World Health Organization in light of these reports. Thankfully, now that the U.K. has left the EU, it is no longer bound by the ridiculous, and quite frankly dangerous, WHO messaging urging the bloc to treat vaping in the same way as smoking.”
May 3, 2021
Critics: EU Committee Ignores Science
Photo: pavel_shishkin
The European Commission has missed an opportunity to bolster its Beating Cancer Plan and recognize the importance of vaping in reducing smoking-related diseases among Europeans, according to the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
A recent report from the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) fails to compare the risks of electronic cigarette use with the risks of smoking, the IEVA noted in a statement. “Such an omission renders the report of little use to policymakers,” it wrote. “An assessment of the impact e-cigarettes have had on European public health must be informed by this evidence.”
Independent and publicly funded scientific research has shown that e-cigarette use is far less harmful than smoking, according to the IEVA.
“The SCHEER committee has failed to present scientific data on vaping in a comprehensive and balanced manner,” said Dustin Dahlmann, president of the IEVA. “The result is a report that is little more than a series of baseless predetermined assertions. Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted, and this alone has serious public health implications. We urge decision-makers in Brussels to integrate harm reduction in their overall strategy.”

Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted.
Dustin Dahlmann, president, IEVA
An earlier draft of this report was put to public consultation in September 2020 and was widely criticized. Yet, the final report reiterates the core findings of the initial draft.
A comprehensive critique of this draft was published in the peer-reviewed Harm Reduction Journal. The authors assert that “the opinion’s conclusions are not adequately backed up by scientific evidence and did not discuss the potential health benefits of using alternative combustion-free nicotine-containing products as [a] substitute for tobacco cigarettes.”
The Harm Reduction Journal report recommends seven crucial areas that the committee should have considered to address this significant deficit, but SCHEER has decided not to do so. These were:
The potential health benefits of ENDS substitution for cigarette smoking;
Alternative hypotheses and contradictory studies on the gateway effect;
Its assessment of cardiovascular risk;
The measurements of frequency of use;
Non-nicotine use;
The role of flavors; and
A fulsome discussion of cessation.
Earlier this week, the World Vaper Alliance expressed similar concerns about the SHEER report.
May 3, 2021
Japan Tobacco Reports ‘Robust’ First Quarter

Photo: JTI
The Japan Tobacco Group reported revenue of ¥547.4 billion ($5.02 billion) for the first quarter of 2021, up 5.3 percent over the revenue reported in the 2020 first quarter. Adjusted operating profit increased 21.3 percent to ¥178.1 billion while operating profit was up 24.2 percent to ¥160.1 billion. At constant currency, adjusted operating profit was ¥186.9 billion, up 27.2 percent from the 2020 quarter.
“JT Group maintained a strong momentum in the tobacco business, mainly fueled by continued market share gains in combustibles in many markets. Furthermore, temporary and favorable industry volume trends in some mature markets resulted in a robust first quarter,” said Masamichi Terabatake, president and CEO of the JT Group, in a statement.

JT Group maintained a strong momentum in the tobacco business, mainly fueled by continued market share gains in combustibles in many markets.
Masamichi Terabatake, president and CEO, JT Group
“As announced in February, we are focusing our management resources on heated-tobacco sticks and are currently preparing the launch of Ploom X, our next-generation device in this category, in the second half of this year. Additionally, we are making steady progress as planned in developing a blueprint of our new operating model and organizational structure for a combined tobacco business from 2022.
“With our robust first-quarter performance, we aim to achieve our full-year forecast. However, we cannot ignore the uncertainties that the Covid-19 pandemic poses, so we will continue to closely monitor the changing operating environment.”
For the full-year 2021, the JT Group expects revenue to decrease by 0.6 percent to ¥2.08 trillion. Consolidated adjusted operating profit at constant currency is expected to increase by 5.1 percent to ¥512 billion.
On a reported basis, adjusted operating profit is forecast to decrease by 2.5 percent to ¥475 billion. Operating profit is forecast to decrease by 22.6 percent to ¥363 billion.
April 30, 2021
Tobacco Evaluating Menthol Announcement

Ohoto: auremar
Tobacco companies are assessing the impact of the Food and Drug Administration’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars. On April 29, the agency announced it is working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year.
Altria and Reynolds American said they would evaluate the proposal, while Imperial’s U.S. business, ITG Brands, said it was disappointing but not unexpected.
“We believe the rulemaking process will reveal that there is no clear scientific evidence to support a federal menthol and flavor ban,” ITG Brands wrote in a statement. “We are hopeful that FDA will follow the law and prioritize sound policy and science over political pressure.
“ITG Brands is well prepared to engage with the FDA to ensure that the agency is guided by the science on this issue and that regulators give due consideration to the numerous unintended consequences that such policies would inevitably bring. We will also make sure the voices of our adult consumers and wholesale and retail partners are represented during every stage of the years-long rulemaking process.”
“We share the common goal of moving adult smokers from cigarettes to potentially less harmful alternatives, but prohibition does not work,” an Altria spokesman told Reuters. “Criminalizing menthol will lead to serious unintended consequences.”
Reynolds, which owns the top-selling U.S. menthol brand Newport, said in a statement Thursday that “the published science does not support regulating menthol cigarettes differently from nonmenthol … nor does it support that menthol cigarettes adversely affect initiation, dependence or cessation.”
“Reynolds will evaluate any proposed regulation and will participate in any consultation and the rulemaking process by submitting robust, science-based evidence.”
U.S. menthol cigarettes accounted for about 25 percent of BAT’s profit, 20 percent for Altria and 15 percent for Imperial, according to brokerage Jefferies.
The proposed ban can take years to implement and might throw the health regulator into protracted legal battles with the industry.
Anti-smoking groups have for decades argued that mentholated cigarettes contribute to disproportionate health burdens on Black communities and often draw young people into smoking.
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matthew Myers said the latest move could be the “strongest action” that the United States “has ever taken to drive down the number of kids who start smoking.”
Critics say a menthol ban is misguided. In a commentary, Guy Bentley of the Reason Foundation said the proposed measure is illiberal and violates the fundamental spirit of fairness.
Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said the FDA’s initiative has the potential to backfire if the agency does not promote nicotine and tobacco harm reduction products along with the menthol ban.
“Evidence from other countries suggests that a menthol ban is not a magic wand that will spur a majority of users to quit nicotine entirely,” Conley was quoted as saying by The Winston-Salem Journal.
“There will be no massive public health benefit if the response from most menthol and little cigar smokers is to switch to Marlboros or use illicit products bought off the street,” said Conley.
Menthol cigarettes are already banned in Brazil, the United Kingdom and the European Union. California and Massachusetts have also outlawed mentholated cigarettes.
The FDA is also considering requiring cigarette manufacturers to lower the levels of nicotine in their products to nonaddictive levels.
“Lowering nicotine content in cigarettes … that’s something that’s still under consideration,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said on a media call on Thursday.
April 30, 2021
Guy Bentley: Banning Menthol is Misguided
Guy Bentley
The case for banning menthol fails on both public health and broader societal grounds, according to Guy Bentley, the director of consumer freedom research at Reason Foundation. On April 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its intention to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and all characterizing flavors (including menthol) in cigars.
The agency said it is working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year. As part of the rulemaking process, the FDA must solicit input and consider consequences of a menthol ban, including unintended consequences.
In a commentary published on the Reason Foundation’s website, Bentley says the proposed menthol ban is illiberal and violates the fundamental spirit of fairness. He goes on to lists 10 reasons why such a measure would be misguided:
Contrary to what proponents of a ban say, most youth smokers don’t use menthol cigarettes. According to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the popularity of menthol cigarettes among young people has declined substantially. From 2014 to 2018, the percentage of youth smokers using a menthol product fell from 54.5 percent to 46.1 percent.
While Black smokers use menthol at significantly higher rates than white smokers do, they have lower smoking rates overall. According to CDC data for 2020, the rate of smoking among Black, non-Hispanic high school students was 2.8 percent compared to 5.3 percent of white, non-Hispanic smoking high school students.
Black adults smoke at a similar rate to white adults but the preferred products of white smokers aren’t targeted by the ban.
States with higher menthol consumption have lower youth smoking rates.
Menthol prohibition will create illicit markets and more police interactions, especially in minority communities. The U.S. illicit tobacco market is already between 8.5 percent and 21 percent of total sales and represents between $2.95 billion and $6.92 billion in lost gross state and local tax revenues.
Menthol bans have a poor record of reducing smoking. According to a survey published by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, just 8 percent of European menthol smokers said they had quit after the EU ban on menthol cigarettes took effect in May 2020.
Menthol cigarettes are no more dangerous than nonmenthol cigarettes. In fact, a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that menthol smokers’ risk of lung cancer was around 30 percent lower than nonmenthol smokers.
Menthol cigarettes are not more addictive than nonmenthol cigarettes.
Menthol bans are unnecessary thanks to safer nicotine alternatives like e-cigarettes.
Adults should be free to choose which cigarettes they smoke.
April 30, 2021
Pyxus Secures Working Capital Funding

Photo: Pyxus International
Pyxus International announced that one of its indirect subsidiaries has entered into a term loan credit agreement with the company and certain of its other subsidiaries as guarantors, with certain funds managed by Glendon Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital as lenders and Alter Domus (U.S.) as administrative agent and collateral agent.
The credit agreement establishes a $120 million delayed-draw term loan credit facility with a maturity date in July 2022.
“Covid-19 has caused delays in shipment of leaf tobacco, which, as a result, has pushed fulfillment of certain customer orders from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 into fiscal 2022,” said Pieter Sikkel, president and CEO of Pyxus International, in a statement.
“The combination of these delays along with increasing customer demand for 2021 crops has created the need for a short-term financing to fund working capital. We anticipate a portion of this loan will be repaid once Covid-19-related delays have been resolved, though a portion may be left outstanding to fund increased purchases of this year’s crop in line with our improving sales expectations.”
April 30, 2021