Top News - Tobacco Reporter

Duterte Urged to Sign Vaping Bill

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has written to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte asking him to urgently sign the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act into law.

Both the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives have ratified the harmonized version of the act, which will regulate the use, manufacture, importation, sale, distribution and promotion of vaping and heated-tobacco products. It now awaits the president’s signature or veto.

“The weight of the scientific evidence shows that potentially thousands of Filipino lives can be saved by making this act the law of the land,” wrote CAPHRA, backed by its expert advisory group and member organizations throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

CAPHRA told Duterte that, when enacted, the legislation will provide 16 million Filipino smokers with the world’s most effective smoking cessation tool, saving the lives and enhancing the health of millions of Filipino smokers and their families, friends and co-workers.

“Hundreds of peer-reviewed international scientific studies have found innovative smoke-free products such as e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products to be far less harmful than combustible tobacco and offer the best options to make smokers switch or quit,” wrote Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of CAPHRA. “The act will ensure the regulation of these products so that they meet government standards to protect consumers and will contribute revenue via taxation.”

The letter said signing the act into law and giving Filipino smokers the option of choosing less harmful alternative nicotine products will create an enduring presidential legacy. It will prove to the world that Duterte is a leader who put the health and well-being of his people, based on science, above the special interests of foreigners.

February 28, 2022

Broughton Establishes U.S. Subsidiary

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.”

February 28, 2022

Canada Approves Medicago’s Vaccine

Health Canada has approved Covifenz, a tobacco plant-based coronavirus vaccination developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Medicago, a biopharmaceutical company backed by Philip Morris International.

“The approval of our Covid-19 vaccine is a significant milestone for Canada in the fight against the pandemic. We appreciate Health Canada’s timely review,” said Takashi Nagao, president and CEO of Medicago, in a statement. “We’re also grateful for the government of Canada’s support in the development of this new vaccine, and we are manufacturing doses to start fulfilling its order.”

“This first approval is an important milestone in our approach of pairing GSK’s well-established pandemic adjuvant with promising antigens to develop protein-based, refrigerator-stable Covid-19 vaccines to help protect people against Covid-19 disease,” said Roger Connor, president of GSK Vaccines. “We look forward to working with Medicago to make the vaccine available in Canada and to progress further regulatory submissions.”

The government of Canada has a contract with Medicago to supply the Covid-19 vaccine.

“As one of our government’s top priorities has been to reverse the 40-year decline faced by Canada’s biomanufacturing sector, we are pleased to see Medicago’s vaccine approval. It is a great milestone for Canada’s biotechnology sector and for homegrown innovation. We will continue to support companies that want to produce vaccines in Canada and join the growing national biomanufacturing sector,” said François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry.

Health Canada based its decision on scientific data shared by Medicago as part of its rolling submission that began in April 2021 under an Interim Order and concluded with the filing of a New Drug Submission-CV.

“Today is a great day for Medicago as Covifenz becomes its first approved vaccine,” said Yosuke Kimura, chief scientific officer at Medicago. “I’d like to thank the clinical investigators involved in our trials as well as Medicago’s passionate and curious team of over 500 scientific experts and employees. Today only reinforces our commitment to using our technology to provide rapid responses to emerging global health challenges and to advancing therapeutics against life-threatening diseases worldwide.”

Covifenz uses coronavirus-like particle technology with the vaccine composed of recombinant spike (S) glycoprotein expressed as virus-like particles co-administered with GSK’s pandemic adjuvant. The vaccination regimen calls for two doses given intramuscularly 21 days apart (3.75 micrograms of coronavirus-like particle antigen in combination with GSK pandemic adjuvant in the same injection). The vaccine is stored at 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius. The Covifenz antigen will be manufactured in Canada and in North Carolina, USA.

February 25, 2022

South Africa Proposes New Vaping Tax

The South African government will propose a new tax on vaping products to take effect in 2023, according to Vaping360.

The move follows the government’s announcement last year that it intended to tax e-liquids.

South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana outlined the new tax proposal as part of a package of new and increased excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and high-sugar products. The vaping tax will appear in the 2022 Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, though it could be changed by Parliament before the bill is finalized. It is expected to be in place by Jan. 1, 2023, according to Godongwana.

The new tax would apply to all e-liquid products, regardless of whether they include nicotine, and it would be “at least” ZAR2.90 ($0.19) per mL, essentially doubling the price of retail e-liquid. The taxation rate is supposed to be equivalent to 40 percent of the most popular brand’s retail price.

South Africa currently has no specific governance on vaping products but is working to regulate the products under its tobacco laws.

February 25, 2022

PMI Suspends Operations in Ukraine

Philip Morris International is suspending operations in Ukraine, including its factory in Kharkiv, following the invasion of Russian forces into the country, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“The safety and security of our colleagues and their families is our primary concern, and we have, therefore, temporarily suspended our operations in Ukraine,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak. “Our employees are advised to stay at home or in any safe place and follow instructions from local authorities.”

PMI has more than 1,300 employees in Ukraine. The country accounted for about 2 percent of PMI’s total cigarette and heated-tobacco shipment volume in 2021.

PMI has stated that it has contingency plans in place to restart operations once conditions are safe.

February 25, 2022

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.

February 25, 2022

BAT Prevails in Tanzania Distributor Dispute

British American Tobacco Kenya has prevailed in an eight-year legal battle against a distributor in Tanzania, sparing it from paying a TZS3.2 billion ($1.4 million) court award, reports The East African.

The Tanzania Court of Appeal annulled a 2016 decision by a lower court awarding the money to Mohans Oysterbay Drinks as damages after it sued BAT Kenya over the termination of a cigarette supply contract.

Mohans claimed it had the exclusive rights to sell BAT products in Tanzania, which the cigarette maker disputed.

“In our view, there was no evidence to prove the existence of a distributorship agreement between the parties nor its breach,” said the appellant court.

Mohans started importing and supplying BAT cigarettes in Tanzania in 2000. However, in 2014, BAT awarded an exclusive distribution contract to another firm after a review of the cigarette maker’s business model.

Mohans challenged the decision in Tanzania’s high court, saying that BAT had unlawfully terminated a contract. BAT said there was no such contract.

In September 2016, the high court held that an implied contract between the parties existed in their 14 years of engagement and awarded Mohans damages for loss of goodwill and money invested in the business.

In overturning that ruling, the Court of Appeal ruled that the parties’ business relationship was “neither express nor implied agreement.”

Further, the judges said the high court had erred in its decision given that Mohans had rebuffed an attempt by BAT to formalize the distributorship agreement.

February 25, 2022

U.K. Regulators Release E-Cig Pricing Guidance

The U.K. Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have released an enforcement notice for promotional online pricing of e-cigarettes.

According to the notice, CAP writes the advertising rules, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority, the U.K.’s independent advertising regulator.

The enforcement notice relates to the manner in which e-cigarette pricing appears on websites. According to CAP, companies are allowed to present factual information but not in a way that would constitute promotion. The enforcement notice states that some companies are portraying pricing in ways that would be considered promotion, for example, emphasizing discounts and savings.

“Please take immediate action to ensure your advertising complies,” the notice states. “We will be monitoring websites in the coming months. If we see continued problems in this area, we will take targeted enforcement action to ensure a level playing field. This may include—where advertisers are unwilling to comply—referral to our legal backstop.”

February 25, 2022

Science Council Lists ‘Junk Science’ Studies

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.

February 24, 2022

Ruling Could Impact EU Smoke Measurement

A ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could impact the way in which the tar, nicotine and other chemicals emitted by cigarettes are measured, according to a report by DutchNews.

In 2018, Dutch antismoking groups asked judges in Rotterdam to ban the existing EU ISO test because it provides inaccurate information about what smokers are actually inhaling.

Tests by a Dutch public health institute showed that when the tiny ventilation holes in cigarette filters are covered—as smokers tend to do with their fingers when holding cigarettes—tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels exceed the official EU limits.

The official EU ISO test, however, leaves the ventilation holes uncovered, leading to lower readings.

The Rotterdam court referred the case to the ECJ to establish whether the test was valid and binding. While confirming that test was valid, the court on Feb. 22 noted it was not binding on the public because the method had not been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, where the trade bloc publishes its legal acts.

Dutch attorney Phon van den Biesen said the ECJ had effectively thrown out the ISO method and instructed the Dutch court to review the antismoking group’s request on the basis of a measuring system the better reflects the deliveries.

February 24, 2022

Category: Top News