Tag: Health Canada

  • ‘Carcinogens Among Permitted Additives’

    ‘Carcinogens Among Permitted Additives’

    Photo: New Africa

    Canada’s proposed list of permitted vapor product additives includes dangerous ingredients, according to Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN).

    “To put it bluntly, the list contains at least one known substance that could cause cancer,” said ITCAN Vice President, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Eric Gagnon in a statement.

    According to ITCAN, several ingredients on the flavor ban proposal list of permitted ingredients are substances that its parent company, British American Tobacco, categorically avoids in its vaping products.

    The company says BAT’s toxicological risk assessment prevents the use of substances classified as having carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMR) properties, as per the Globally Harmonized System for classification and labelling of substances.

    “It is shocking that the government would include a proven and classified CMR substance in its lists of permitted additives for vaping products,” ITCAN wrote on its website. “The effect of a regulation that formally permits such ingredients is simply an encouragement to manufacturers—particularly smaller producers with limited access to scientific literature—to use an inherently unsafe substance in a product that is designed to be inhaled into the lungs.”

    Gagnon cited isophorone as an example. “This substance is classified by the European Union as cancer-causing and acutely toxic. It is also banned by Canadian food and drug regulations from use in human cosmetics,” he said.

    “We encourage Health Canada to reconsider the list and consult with experts to determine the best way forward.”

  • Health Canada Recalls Zyn Pouches

    Health Canada Recalls Zyn Pouches

    Image: Swedish Match/ HstrongART

    Health Canada recalled eight types of Zyn nicotine pouches on June 12, saying they were sold without market authorization, reports Global News.

    They affected variants are flavored apple mint, bellini, black cherry, citrus, cool mint, espresso, original and spearmint. The pouches had 1.5 or three milligrams of nicotine in them.

    Philip Morris International, which manufactures Zyn products, said it does not sell in Canada and applauds Health Canada for taking action.

    “The products at issue are being sold by unauthorized parties,” a spokesperson for PMI’s Rothmans Benson & Hedges affiliate was quoted as saying by the Global News.

    “RBH works with law enforcement to stop illicit trade and we are supportive of government efforts on this front.”

    Health Canada has approved only one nicotine pouch for sale—Imperial Tobacco Canada’s Zonnic brand.  

    The introduction of nicotine pouches in Canada has run into opposition from health activists.

    Experts say these products are appealing to children, who face the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine.

    In March, Health Minister Mark Holland said that he was “seeking authority” to restrict such products “so they are solely for the purposes of cessation.”

     

  • Medicago Urged to Ditch Philip Morris

    Medicago Urged to Ditch Philip Morris

    Photo: evannovostro

    A coalition of health groups have called on the Canadian government to replace Philip Morris International as a major shareholder in Medicago.

    In late February, Health Canada authorized Medicago’s Convifenz Covid-19 vaccine, which is manufactured with the help of tobacco plants. Soon after, the World Health Organization signaled it was unlikely to grant the vaccine emergency approval due to Medicago’s ties to the tobacco industry. PMI owns about a third of the biopharmaceutical company.

    “There is a simple pathway to get this vaccine approved. Our governments should stand up to Philip Morris,” said Flory Doucas, co-director of the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control.

    “Instead of asking the WHO to contravene its own tobacco control treaty, which was ratified by Canada and 181 other countries, the federal Minister of Health and his Quebec counterpart should focus their energies on convincing the tobacco giant to withdraw as a shareholder of Medicago.”

    According to the health groups, Medicago has already signaled that it is seeking alternative investors. The Canadian and Quebec governments, they say, should help facilitate such a transition.

    The health groups cite Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which obliges parties to ensure that their policies are protected “from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.”

    “Guidelines for implementing this obligation make clear that ‘the tobacco industry should not be a partner in any initiative linked to setting or implementing public health policies, given that its interests are in direct conflict with the goals of public health,’” the organizations wrote in a press release. “Parties are directed that they ‘should not endorse, support, form partnerships with or participate in activities of the tobacco industry described as socially responsible.’”

  • Canada Opens Consultation on Tobacco and Vaping Act

    Canada Opens Consultation on Tobacco and Vaping Act

    Photo: JHVEPhoto

    The government of Canada has opened public consultation on the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) ahead of its mandatory parliamentary review. Stakeholders can provide input until April 27, 2022.

    In 2018, the TVPA was amended to protect youth and nonsmokers. The amended act recognized that vaping was significantly less harmful than smoking, and smokers that switched to vaping could reduce their exposure to thousands of chemicals. The act introduced measures to protect youth through various labeling and promotion regulations.

    Darryl Tempest

    Tobacco harm reduction advocates welcomed the consultation. “Vaping has helped millions of smokers quit and has the potential to help millions more if it weren’t for the misrepresentations of the industry by media and misperceptions surrounding the product itself. It is imperative that Parliamentarians have the opportunity to hear from a wide range of experts as part of the TVPA review process,” said Darryl Tempest, government relations advisor to the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA).

    Health Canada’s discussion paper states, “For adults who smoke, there appears to be a lack of awareness that vaping products are a less harmful source of nicotine for those who currently smoke and switch completely to vaping. A 2020 survey found that only 22 percent of current smokers recognized that vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes.”

    In its consultation submission, the CVA will urge Health Canada to rectify this through the issue of relative risk statements for approved use by licensed specialty vape shops. In 2018, Health Canada proposed a “List of Statements for Use in the Promotion of Vaping Products.” According to the CVA, this proposal has been put on the back burner and has languished in Health Canada’s bureaucracy to the detriment of potential public health gains from smokers switching to vaping.

    “Instead of issuing reasonable statements for use by specialty vape shops, the TVPA has effectively gagged the vape industry through Section 30.43,” the CVA wrote in a press release. Section 30.43 prohibits “the promotion of a vaping product in a manner that could cause a person to believe that health benefits may be derived from the use of the product or from its emission or by comparing the health effects arising from the use of the product or from its emissions with those arising from the use of a tobacco product or from its emissions. The purpose of this prohibition is to prevent the public from being deceived or misled with respect to the health hazards of using vaping products.”

    “The CVA looks forward to actively participating in the review process and will advocate for enhanced measures to protect youth as well as increased smoker-targeted messaging on the benefits of switching to vaping. We encourage all stakeholders to submit feedback,” said Tempest.

  • Canada Approves Medicago’s Vaccine

    Canada Approves Medicago’s Vaccine

    Photo: M.Rode-Foto

    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.

  • Canada: Flavor Ban Could Boost Smoking

    Canada: Flavor Ban Could Boost Smoking

    Photo: jedsadabodin

    Health Canada has made a “startling admission” that its recent policy to ban the sale of flavored vapor products could contribute to a rise in cigarette consumption, reports Filter, a publication owned and operated by The Influence Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy and human rights.

    Into its regulatory impact analysis statement on the intended flavor ban, Health Canada acknowledges that its legislation could lead to an increase in smoking, according to Filter.

    “It is anticipated that some dual users who currently use flavored vaping products would not substitute their purchases with tobacco[-flavored] and mint/menthol-flavored vaping products. They would choose to purchase more cigarettes,” the statement reads.

    “The statement is very direct. It’s basically saying, ‘We’re Health Canada, and we’re going to do something that kills Canadians,’” said David Sweanor, an industry expert and chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre for Health, Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa.

    “The statement is very direct. It’s basically saying, ‘We’re Health Canada, and we’re going to do something that kills Canadians.'”

    David Sweanor, chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre for Health, Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa

    Matt Culley, a board member of the U.S.-based CASAA, a consumer advocacy nonprofit that promotes smoke-free alternatives to combustible tobacco, said, “The fact that a government can brazenly admit their policy will lead to more smoking and death is wild. It really goes to show how demonized vaping remains.”

    The policy appears to be at odds with Canada’s intention to reduce its smoking rate to 5 percent by 2030.

    “Our policies have not aligned with the country’s goals,” Darryl Tempest, the executive director and chief advocate of the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA), told Filter. “It is not a public policy that relates to adults or harm reduction or small businesses.”

    The country amended its tobacco laws to include vaping products in 2018, and some Canadian provinces have already enacted their own flavor bans.