Top News - Tobacco Reporter

Vectura Directors Step Down

Vectura CEO Will Downie and Chief Financial Officer Paul Fry have stepped down from their roles with the company following the £1 billion ($1.31 billion) takeover by Philip Morris International, reports The Times.

PMI acquired Vectura last year as part of the company’s “beyond nicotine” strategy. This move caused controversy in the healthcare industry as Vectura is a producer of inhalers and medicines for smoking-related conditions. Critics said the takeover represented a conflict of interest.

Following the takeover, Vectura was banned from many pharmaceutical industry conferences due to the company’s new ties to the tobacco industry.

The tobacco industry’s involvement in pharmaceutical businesses is facing increasing scrutiny. In March, the World Health Organization said it would deny an emergency use listing to Medicago’s Convifenz Covid-19 vaccine, because of the company’s tobacco ties.

PMI owns a minority stake in Medicago, which now faces pressure to seek a different shareholder.

April 1, 2022

Mixed Sentiments as Markets Open in Africa

Farmers earned more than $243,500 from the sale of 94,453 kg of flue-cured tobacco on the first day of Zimbabwe’s 2022 marketing season, reports The Herald. This reflects a 40.54 percent increase over previous year when growers earned $173,256 from 92,106 kg on the first day of sales.

On the first day of the 2022 marketing season the average price was $2.58 per kg, compared with $1.88 on the first day of 2021, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).

TIMB Chief Execute Meanwell Gudu said prices are expected to be firm this year due to reduced volumes.

“Brazil is likely to be 80 million kg short of their usual production level because of drought. This creates less competition for us. India has fixed its 2021-2022 production of flue-cured Virginia up to 270 million kg, against 236 million kg in the previous year,” he said.

“Due to anticipated reduced volumes in Zimbabwe this season, there will be more pressure on the demand side to take the crop, which should naturally increase prices upwards. This is likely to be experienced in the medium to filler grades.”

Farmers in Malawi, meanwhile, were dissapointed with their earnings, with some asking President Lazarus Chakwera to intervene, according to The Nyasa Times.

On April 1, the highest price offered on the auction floor was $1.75 per kg and the highest offer on the contract market was $2.30.

Chakwera assured the farmers that the government would intervene. However, he also advised them to grade their tobacco properly to satisfy buyers’ requirement.

According to the Tobacco Control Commission there were more than 1,000 bales on the Lilongwe Auction Floors on the first day of the 2022 tobacco marketing season.

April 1, 2022

Thailand: New Graphic Health Warnings

Retailers and wholesalers in Thailand will have to sell cigarette packs with newly designed warning labels beginning April 11, reports The Bangkok Post.

The new packs must have text warnings and newly designed pictorial warnings showing graphic details of the consequences of smoking, according to Khachornsak Kaewcharas, deputy director-general of the Department of Disease Control.

“Violators who still sell cigarette packets with the old pictorial warnings are liable to a fine of no more than THB40,000 [$1,197],” he said.

April 1, 2022

More Ads for Menthol E-Cigarettes

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned flavored tobacco products, email and mailed advertisements for those products fell; however, ads for menthol-flavored products more than doubled, according to the Truth Initiative citing a Tobacco Control study.

The study showed that partial flavor bans may not deter consumers, including youth, away from tobacco products. “Rather, manufacturers and consumers are adapting to new FDA regulations,” the study authors write. “The restriction of some flavored e-cigarette products has resulted in a shift of the sales and marketing of restricted flavored e-cigarette products toward other available flavored e-cigarette products.”

“A more comprehensive approach that includes the consideration of disposables, refillable devices and other flavored e-cigarettes not covered by the current FDA guidance is needed to offer the most benefit for prevention efforts among youth and young adults,” the authors write.

The FDA is expected to ban menthol-flavored products sometime this year.

April 1, 2022

PMI Gives Ukrainian Army Cigarettes

Philip Morris International has given the Ukrainian Army 500,000 packs of cigarettes, reports the Washington Examiner.

“Philip Morris donated 500,000 packs of cigarettes to help the army,” said People’s Deputy of Ukraine Danylo Hetmantsev. “Lviv Tobacco Factory and JT International Ukraine also handed over cigarettes to the military today in all regions where there are logistics warehouses.”

PMI stopped most operations in Ukraine due to the invasion of Russian forces, and the company stopped marketing and product launches in Russia.

“This included sales, distribution, and manufacturing,” said Corey Henry, PMI’s Director of U.S. Communications. “The Ukrainian army approached our colleagues and asked for stock in our warehouse in one of the most heavily bombed regions. We complied with the authorities’ request.”

“Our focus and all our efforts over the last four weeks have been to ensure the safety and security of our Ukrainian colleagues,” said CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with the innocent men, women and children who are suffering.”

April 1, 2022

Brazil Mulls Legalizing E-Cigarettes

E-cigarettes may become legal in Brazil later this year as ANVISA, the federal health sanitary agency, plans to revisit its regulations regarding the products. Proponents of vaping have been pushing the government to legalize the products to help smokers quit combustibles, but critics are concerned about youth usage as well as potential higher rates of vaping that could follow legalization.

Electronic tobacco products have been banned in Brazil since 2009, but there are currently shops that sell the products anyway, often with statements that the products are safe, according to The World.

“Once the product is legally allowed to be commercialized, it gets into the distribution network of the tobacco companies, which have one of the best distribution systems around,” said Stella Bialous, a Brazilian expert on tobacco issues and a professor from the University of California, San Francisco. She fears that more people would likely take up vaping if the products are allowed to be commercialized. In 2019, less than 1 percent of Brazilians used e-cigarettes. However, if the products are commercialized, they would become more easily available, and that percentage could quickly rise.

“Considering that these products are attractive to youth and that we can’t affirm that they really work for tobacco cessation, we believe that we must prioritize the public policies to prevent smoke initiation and also to promote health for the Brazilian population,” said Monica Andreis, the executive director from ACT Promocao da Saude, a nongovernmental organization that focuses on tobacco control policies.

“Brazil has a leadership role in Latin America and also around the world related to tobacco control policies. I believe that the decision from ANVISA has the potential to influence other countries in Latin America,” Andreis said.

ANVISA has not commented on the situation, stating that it is still analyzing data. “Up to this point, there are still uncertainties and controversies related to the risks attributed to these devices,” the agency stated in February.

April 1, 2022

Gene Tree Recognized for Vaping Technology

ICCPP’s Gene Tree nano-microcrystalline ceramic vaporizer core won China CE Magazine’s Pioneer Technology Award 2021.

Launched in September 2021, Gene Tree is the first “0 powder definition” ceramic core in the vapor industry. The manufacturing process is designed to eliminate dust and thus avoids the harm caused by powder falling of ordinary ceramic cores.

The high-void porous structure of the Gene Tree core, combined with the application of food-grade lipophilic rare earth oxide, gives it excellent e-juice “guiding and locking” ability. It not only enhances stability and prolongs the product’s lifespan, but also prevents leakage, dry burns and explosions while optimizing flavor.

According to ICCPP, the product’s self-developed heating slurry is more consistent with the thermodynamic properties of porous ceramics, greatly reducing the phenomenon of core slurry. Even after 4,000 tests of dry burning at 2.5 watts, the heating film and resistance value remained intact. The service life of dry burning at 6 watts is up to five times that of other products.

China CE Magazine is an influential publication in China’s electronic consumer goods industry.

March 31, 2022

Michele Mital to lead FDA CTP

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) will name Michele Mital, the current deputy director of the CTP, as acting director when Mitch Zeller retires in April, reports Vaping360.

The news was first reported Wednesday afternoon in a tweet by FDA Tracker and confirmed by Filter reporter Alex Norcia after speaking with FDA sources. No formal announcement has been made.

Mital joined the FDA in 1996 and has held various positions in the agency, including in the Office of Legislation. Since the CTP was formed in 2009, Mital has worked there in various capacities. She was named deputy director in 2018.

The FDA is still looking for a permanent director.

March 31, 2022

Armenian Counterfeiters Arrested in France

Authorities dismantled an Armenian criminal gang in France, detaining 11 individuals and seizing more than 2.5 tons of counterfeit cigarettes, along with €100,000 ($111,689) in cash and €150,000 in winning lottery tickets, according to Europol. Four guns and various types of ammunition were also confiscated.

The investigation was completed by French Customs with support of Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre and the French National Police. They simultaneously searched 13 sites in and around Lyon, France.

The seized cigarettes were imported from different European countries before being stored in warehouses and then sold on the black market in multiple French cities.

March 30, 2022

WHO To Review Policies After Denying Vaccine

The World Health Organization is reviewing its policies after the global health body denied Medicago’s Covifenz Covid-19 vaccine emergency-use approval, according to The Times Colonist.

The WHO denied the vaccine due to the company’s ties with the tobacco industry; Philip Morris is a minority stakeholder in Medicago.

“Medicago was informed of this decision and has been apprised of WHO’s policies on tobacco,” the WHO stated.

However, the WHO’s policies may change as the organization reevaluates its policies following the tobacco industry’s attempts to diversify into other categories.

“WHO is currently holding discussions on how to address a general trend of the tobacco industry investing in the health industry,” the WHO said.

Once the WHO makes a decision on its policies, the Medicago vaccine application could be reviewed.

Medicago is waiting on a response from the WHO detailing why the vaccine application was denied. “Once we receive this, we will review the rationale and continue to discuss next steps with our partners and shareholders,” said Takashi Nagao, Medicago’s president.

March 29, 2022

Category: Top News