Category: Science

  • Broughton Establishes U.S. Subsidiary

    Broughton Establishes U.S. Subsidiary

    Tony Jones (Photo: Broughton)

    Broughton is establishing a U.S. subsidiary to enhance its presence in the region. Leading the U.S. team will be Tony Jones, who joins Broughton as managing consultant. Jones has extensive experience in toxicology and risk assessment.

    “I am delighted to be spearheading this exciting next stage of the development of Broughton in the U.S. market,” said Jones. “I’m looking forward to introducing the full lifecycle development services offered by the Broughton team to U.S. clients across pharmaceuticals, nicotine and cannabinoids to help the company support their clients to accelerate innovation to market and improve health outcomes.” 

    Along with the appointment of Jones, Broughton has strengthened its consultancy team with several new members.

    Libby Clarke and Carol Beevers have joined the company’s toxicology team. Clarke is a European registered toxicologist and has substantial experience devising toxicology testing strategies and compiling submissions to regulatory bodies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada. Beevers is a genetic toxicology specialist and has contributed to more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals. She is a member of the U.K. Committee on Mutagenicity and several international working groups on genotoxicity testing.

    In recognition of the growing importance of behavioral science in regulatory submissions, Broughton has also strengthened its in-house team with the appointment of Oliver Knight-West. Knight-West has conducted multiple behavioral and clinical studies into next-generation nicotine products and pharmaceuticals for dossier submission to the FDA, the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and the European Medicines Agency.

    He has published many scientific papers in several highly cited publications.

    To complement the appointment of Paul Hardman in 2021, Malcolm Saxton has joined the chemistry consultancy team. Saxton will help ensure that Broughton remains at the forefront of the industry in terms of novel method development aligned with evolving market and regulatory needs.

    “Since 2006, our focus has always been to help our clients succeed,” said Broughton CEO Chris Allen. “With a passion for enhancing societal health and well-being, the establishment of a North American subsidiary is a natural next step to enable us to better partner with our customers in the region.”

  • Coresta Announces its 2022 Congress

    Coresta Announces its 2022 Congress

    The 2022 Coresta Congress will take place online Oct. 10–28.

    The event will comprise daily, two-hour sessions or workshops (1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Central European Time) focused on a specific topic area with pre-recorded 10 minute to 12 minute oral presentations followed by a live Q&A with the presenters.

    Coresta’s Agronomy & Leaf Integrity and Phytopathology & Genetics study groups are soliciting the submission of papers relating to sustainability in tobacco leaf production, low nicotine, leaf chemistry, crop and environmental protection, genetics and plant breeding and supply chain integrity.

    The organization’s Smoke Science and Product Technology study groups are encouraging the submission of abstracts presenting scientific research related to conventional tobacco products and potentially reduced harm next-generation products such as e-cigarettes, heated-tobacco products and novel oral products containing tobacco-derived nicotine.

    The abstract submission deadline is May 20.

    For more information, visit www.coresta.org/events/coresta-congress-2022-35938.html.

  • Science Council Lists ‘Junk Science’ Studies

    Science Council Lists ‘Junk Science’ Studies

    Photo: luckybusiness

    The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has published a list of vaping-related studies that are tainted by “junk science,” according to the industry advocacy organization.

    “The media reports the results of sloppy vaping research then quickly forgets them. We do not,” writes Cameron English on the ACSH website. “What follows is a list of many of the low-quality studies that have investigated the alleged health risks of e-cigarette use. We’ll regularly update this catalog of bad studies as necessary.”

    The list includes studies linking vaping to erectile disfunction, stroke, bone damage and mental health.

    “The past year has seen the publication of many studies alleging that e-cigarette use (vaping) carries very serious health consequences, everything from depression to erectile dysfunction and higher stroke risk,” English writes. “Each paper generated widespread media coverage, usually one news outlet duplicating the uncritical coverage of the last, giving consumers the false impression that vaping poses a greater health threat than it actually does. When we examined these studies in more detail, we identified their serious flaws and reported them to our readers.”

    English also suggests that health reporters tend to obsess over a topic for a few days then forget it entirely, quickly moving on to the next exaggerated study. This means the public often only hears the information relayed from the faulty study and is never informed that the information isn’t sound, he says.

  • Trade Group: Flavor Ban Study is Misleading

    Trade Group: Flavor Ban Study is Misleading

    Photo: kurgu128

    The conclusion from a recent study that flavor ban-induced sales declines also reduce youth vaping is unwarranted, according to the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA).

    A recent CDC Foundation analysis examining the change in vape product sales in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Washington after flavor bans found that statewide restrictions on nontobacco-flavored sales were associated with reductions of 25.01 percent to 31.26 percent in total unit sales compared with total sales in states without restrictions.

    However, the “hasty” conclusion that the reduction in total sales has also reduced youth vaping prevalence does not hold up, according to the CVA, because the authors were unable to assess the age of purchasers.

    Darryl Tempest

    According to the CVA, the most common way for youth to access vaping products is through social sourcing. “Even if the age of the purchasers could be verified, a reduction in youth vaping could only be determined through additional studies,” the CVA wrote in press note.

    “The problem with taking a micro view to regulation and forming policy based on individual studies is [that] the bigger picture is neglected,” said Darryl Tempest, government relations council to the CVA Board. “If we take this study at face value and assume the conclusion is accurate and less youth are vaping, on the surface it seems like this type of regulation is logical. Yet, we know from reviewing the full scope of evidence that flavor restrictions result in smoking-related illness and death.”

  • Dahlia Garwe to Leave Tobacco Research Board

    Dahlia Garwe to Leave Tobacco Research Board

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    After eight years at the helm of Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Research Board (TRB), Dahlia Garwe is leaving the institution to pursue other interests.

    Garwe joined the TRB in 1991 as a research officer in the analytical chemistry department. In 2003, she became a divisional coordinator, and in 2009, she was named assistant general manager of research and extension. In 2012, Garwe was appointed acting general manager, and in 2014, she became the TRB’s first female CEO.

    In an interview with The Herald, Garwe reflected on the TRB’s achievements during her tenure. Despite the challenging economic environment, the institution continued to record surpluses thanks to several income-generating initiatives, such as the seed potato project.

    During Garwe’s time at TRB, the institute’s scientists contributed significantly to international tobacco conferences and congresses, with quite a few of them assuming leadership roles in various international tobacco research bodies.

    The TRB also released several new tobacco varieties, eight of which were released, including to other countries, such as Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania.

    Confronted with declining tobacco consumption, the TRB has also been exploring alternative crops, such as industrial hemp, in Zimbabwe.

    Asked why she was leaving the TRB, Garwe cited Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, a self-help book that encourages readers to adapt to change. According to Zimbabwe’s Public Corporate Governance Act, Garwe must retire within the next two years as her 10 years in office will be up.

    “In the interim, I received a really exciting offer from a local agricultural player, which will allow me further growth,” Garwe told The Herald. “I decided to take it, and I am relishing the new challenge. I will miss TRB, but I am ready to move on.”

  • RELX Registers its Clinical Research

    RELX Registers its Clinical Research

    Photo: RELX

    RELX has initiated China’s first clinical research on vaping safety. The company is studying the acute effects of traditional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes on the human respiratory system and cardiovascular system. This month, RELX registered its clinical research with the China Clinical Trial Registry, a primary registry in the World Health Organization Registry Network.

    In a press release, REXL took the opportunity to highlight its commitment to cross-disciplinary fundamental research into atomization mechanisms, so as to explore the long-term health effects of vaping.

    In March 2021, RELX conducted clinical research on the metabolism and kinetics of nicotine. In both clinical studies, RELX used the vaping devices made by its strategic partner Smoore.

    Moreover, in September 2021, RELX and Smoore took the lead in drafting two industry standards “General Technical Specifications for Electronic Atomization Devices” and “Safety Technical Specifications for E-liquid”, led by the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of China Electronic Chamber of Commerce.

    In October 2020, the National Natural Science Foundation of China approved a research program on vaping harm reduction jointly conducted by Smoore and Tongji University. Over the next few years, Smoore and Tongji University will continue to conduct a series of studies on the health effects of vaping.

    In January, Smoore launched the world’s thinnest ceramic coil vape pod solution—FEELM Air—in London. Compared with last generation, FEELM Air boasts an overall harm reduction performance improvement of 80 percent.

    On Dec. 2, 2021, China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued the draft rules governing e-cigarettes following the regulator’s release of the exposure draft of national standards of e-cigarettes on Nov. 30, 2021.

    As China’s national standards of e-cigarettes come into effective, RELX said it will continue to increase its R&D investment and examine the harm reduction of vaping via scientific substantiation.

  • Publishing Ban for Industry-Owned Firms

    Publishing Ban for Industry-Owned Firms

    Photo: PixieMe

    A group of international respiratory societies has banned researchers associated with tobacco companies from publishing papers in their journals following Philip Morris International’s acquisition of the U.K.-based pharmaceutical firm Vectura, reports Nature. The measure comes on top of the groups’ decade-long publishing ban on researchers directly funded by tobacco companies.

    In a joint statement, the groups describe PMI’s purchase of Vectura as “highly unethical and inappropriate.”

    Scientists at Vectura produce drugs that treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including some smoking-related respiratory illnesses. “That is the ultimate conflict of interest,” said Gregory Downey, a pulmonologist at the University of Colorado Denver and president-elect of the American Thoracic Society, which co-signed the statement.

    “The issue is that ‘Big Tobacco’ could use, and will use, this technology not only to potentially enhance delivery of tobacco-containing substances and nicotine devices but to addict more people.”

    Moira Gilchrist, vice president of strategic and scientific communications at PMI in Lausanne, Switzerland, says the idea that the company would use Vectura’s technology in this way is “false and without basis.”

    “We openly welcome and encourage legitimate critique and debate about our business transformation, but when this morphs into actively ostracizing scientists and attempting to prevent the prescribing of proven medicines for patients, we should pause and think of the implications,” Gilchrist adds.

    Signatories of the statement include The European Respiratory Society, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, Asociacion Latino Americana De Torax, and the Global Initiative for Asthma.

  • BAT Launches Virtual R&D Visitor Experience

    BAT Launches Virtual R&D Visitor Experience

    Image: BAT

    BAT has created a virtual R&D visitor experience, an online tour of its global research and development hub in Southampton, U.K., that allows people to explore its cutting-edge science and innovation.

    BAT says the experience builds on the company’s open and transparent approach to the science underpinning its reduced-risk product portfolio and beyond nicotine activities. The company regularly welcomes visitors in person to its global R&D hub, with more than 3,500 people viewing the facilities firsthand since 2011. However, with travel significantly reduced, the virtual experience allows people from across the globe to access and understand BAT’s scientific research and tobacco harm reduction activities and gain perspectives and insights from experts.

    “At BAT, R&D is fundamental to what we do,” said David O’Reilly, director of scientific research at BAT, in a statement. “Our focus on science and research has enabled us to make significant progress in developing and evolving our New Category products, which are rigorously tested and scientifically substantiated as reduced-risk alternatives to cigarettes. Our R&D is based around consumer preferences as well as applying evolving science and innovation to our products. This allows us to offer a range of enjoyable reduced-risk alternatives to cigarettes while ensuring we maintain very high safety and quality standards.

    “Our new R&D virtual visitor experience demonstrates the breadth of science we are undertaking and the robust scientific framework we use to evaluate and support the role our products play in delivering tobacco harm reduction.”

    With 360-degree lab tours, animations, videos, scientist profiles, podcasts and more, the R&D virtual visitor experience is the one-stop hub for those looking to find out about BAT’s science. The tour illuminates BAT’s purpose to build “A Better Tomorrow” and mission to reduce the health impact of its business. BAT invests almost £350 million [$477.18 million] a year to find innovative ways to reduce its effects on public health and aims to have 50 million consumers of its noncombustible products by 2030.

  • BAT Creates Plant-Based Technology Firm

    BAT Creates Plant-Based Technology Firm

    Photo: BAT

    BAT today announced the launch of KBio Holdings to accelerate the research, development and production of novel treatments. KBio will leverage the plant-based technology capabilities of BAT and Kentucky BioProcessing, BAT’s U.S. plant biologics organization.

    KBio will explore new opportunities to develop its plant-based production system, which has the potential to offer greater speed, scale-up opportunity and thermostability. The new company will focus on delivering treatments for rare and infectious diseases by realizing and expanding the potential of both the plant-based technology platform as well as its existing clinical and preclinical vaccines and antibody pipeline.

    KBio will look to form innovative R&D collaborations and financing aimed at expanding its pipeline and future portfolio, with an ambition of financial self-sufficiency.

    Supporting the company’s future plans, a standalone operational structure for KBio is being established. This includes building a new executive leadership team led by Patrick Doyle as the CEO of KBio. Doyle brings more than 20 years of experience leading innovative biotech companies.

    “I am excited by the opportunity to build on the significant accomplishments made by BAT and KBP,” said Doyle in a statement. “I am confident in the potential of KBio’s powerful plant-based platform, capabilities and emerging early-stage pipeline. To date, the technology has demonstrated its ability to produce novel antibody and vaccine candidates with high purity at a fraction of the time and cost of current technologies. The speed and efficiency demonstrated by the KBio platform has significant potential. This could enable us to progress to clinical studies faster than industry norms in the hope of delivering treatment solutions more quickly.”

    “Science and innovation are fundamental to BAT and delivering on our purpose of building ‘A Better Tomorrow,’” said David O’Reilly, BAT’s director of scientific research. “We recognize the potential of our innovative plant-based technology and have established KBio to maximize that potential. We are excited to see what the future holds.”

  • PMI Partners With African Data Scientists

    PMI Partners With African Data Scientists

    Photo: Aleksandr

    Philip Morris International has partnered with data scientists from Africa to study the continent’s tobacco-growing areas using satellite mapping, according to a story on the company’s website.

    Six data scientists from the African Institute for Mathematical Studies recently joined PMI for a 12-week fellowship program to study tobacco-growing areas using satellite imagery. The participants developed a generic solution for quantifying the sizes of farmed land, based on the satellite images.

    The partnership was the brainchild of Ishango, a social enterprise working to increase the opportunities available to talented data scientists all over the continent. “Our model is to get international companies that have interesting data science projects that our fellows can work on to build skills,” says Eunice Baguma Ball, co-founder of Ishango.

    According to Jan Stuebbe, PMI’s global head of inclusion and diversity, the potential benefits of the project are considerable.

    “It doesn’t only help our operations because we understand where tobacco is growing, where we can buy it and what the prices could be. It’s also a wonderful engagement tool for African organizations to say to the politicians or regulators that we try to do things that help communities and farmers in Africa,” he says. “And that increases our standing in those communities and possibly even helps us attract talent in places that we would have never looked at before.”