Category: News This Week

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has started an investigation of e-cigarette companies’ marketing practices. The commission has issued orders to Juul Labs, R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., Fontem US, Logic Technology Development, Nu Mark and NJOY seeking information on the companies’ sales, advertising and promotional methods between 2015 and 2018.

According to the agency, the study will complement similar FTC studies on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. The goal is to assist the commission, policy makers and the public to better understand the rapidly growing e-cigarette market.

Among other things, the commission orders seek: annual data on the sales and giveaways of e-cigarette products; information about the characteristics of the companies’ e-cigarette products, such as product flavors; annual amounts the companies spent on advertising and promoting e-cigarette products; and information about e-cigarette product placement, the websites and social media accounts used to advertise or sell e-cigarettes, affiliate programs, influencer marketing and college campus programs.

The FTC move follows a series of unresolved vaping-related deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S. As of Oct. 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 1,080 lung injury cases and 18 deaths across the nation.



Lung injuries from vaping are most likely caused by direct toxicity or tissue damage from noxious chemical fumes, according to a new Mayo Clinic study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers reviewed lung biopsies from 17 patients, all of whom had vaped and were suspected to have vaping-associated lung injury. The study was the first to examine a group of biopsies from patients with lung injury due to vaping. Researchers found no evidence of tissue injury caused by accumulation of lipids—fatty substances such as mineral oils—which has been suspected as a possible cause of the lung injuries associated with vaping.

“We were not surprised by what we found regarding toxicity,” said Brandon Larsen, senior author of the study. “We have seen a handful of cases, scattered individual cases, over the past two years where we’ve observed the same thing, and now we are seeing a sudden spike in cases.

“Everyone should recognize that vaping is not without potential risks, including life-threatening risks, and I think our research supports that,” he said.

Alison Cooper will step down as CEO and from the board of Imperial Brands once a suitable successor is found.

“Alison has worked tirelessly and with great energy and passion during her 20 years with Imperial, nine of which have been as CEO, and the board would like to thank her for the tremendous contribution she has made,” said Chairman Mark Williamson.

“During her tenure as CEO the business has been significantly simplified and reshaped to strengthen its long-term growth potential, and more than £10 billion [$12.31 billion] in dividends has been returned to shareholders. I am pleased that Alison has committed to continue to lead the business until a successor is appointed, ensuring an orderly transition of responsibilities.”

As CEO, Cooper has driven a sharper focus on Imperial’s strongest brands and markets, halving the number of cigarette brands to ensure a higher quality of growth, with “asset brands” now accounting for two thirds of the group’s tobacco net revenue, according to Imperial Brands. She also significantly enhanced Imperial’s presence in the highly profitable U.S. market with the $7 billion acquisition of brands and assets in 2014 and has been the architect of the launch and development of Imperial’s next-generation products (NGP) business.

While the search for a successor continues, Cooper will focus on driving the performance of the business, including the asset divestment program, which Imperial expects to realize proceeds of up to £2 billion by May 2020.

On Sept. 26, Imperial Brands issued an earnings warning on Sept. 26 reflecting a deteriorating market for NGPs in the United States and changes to results expectations in its Africa, Asia and Australasia division.

Swiss senators have voted to ban the sale of cigarettes to minors and further restrict tobacco advertising, reports Swissinfo.

Under the law, tobacco firms would no longer be able to sponsor international events or activities organized by the government. Companies would also need to declare to the Federal Office of Public Health the amount spent annually on advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Cantons would be permitted to pursue more restrictive laws. Currently, eleven cantons prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors while 12 have set the minimum purchase age at 16. Three cantons have no limits.

Previous attempts by Parliament to tighten the tobacco law have come up against a bloc of right-of-center parliamentarians fearful of the economic consequences.

Switzerland hosts some of the world’s biggest global tobacco firms, including Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International.

The Senate now passes the baton to the House of Representatives.

Imperial Brands issued an earnings warning on Sept. 26 reflecting a deteriorating market for next-generation products (NGPs) in the United States and changes to results expectations in its Africa, Asia and Australasia division.

The company now expects group net revenue for the year to grow at around 2 percent with earnings per share expected to be broadly flat at constant currencies.

A recent vaping-related public health scare and regulatory crackdown has caused the U.S. market for NGPs to slow considerably with an increasing number of wholesalers and retailers not ordering or not allowing promotion of vapor products, according to Imperial Brands.

Despite the challenges, Imperial Brands believes that NGPs will continue to provide significant opportunity to deliver additive growth to complement its tobacco business.

“We continue to refine our investment behind building a strong and profitable NGP business in a rapidly evolving market,” the company wrote in a statement.