Tag: Modern Oral

The Looming Backlash

Photo: Swedish Match

Cracking down on Zyn will only harsh the buzz around the office.
By Peter Clark
The calls from Representative Chuck Schumer to “crack down” on Zyn nicotine pouches may harsh the buzz around the office.
A recent Bloomberg article found that this product has been gaining popularity among office workers. In the third quarter, Philip Morris International saw a 66 percent jump in sales.
Schumer may aim to shield developing brains from nicotine, but only 1.5 percent of middle schoolers and high schoolers use nicotine pouches. Flavored nicotine products are critical to adults quitting smoking because they break the connection between nicotine and tobacco.
If regulation is too heavy-handed, adults will be clamoring for their trusty pack of Marlboros. This initiative is a drag on workplace productivity for the following reasons: more smoke breaks, less focused employees and time lost to illness.
Restricting Zyn pouches may make workers revert to cigarettes, and this is bad for business. The average smoke break is between 10 minutes and 15 minutes long. These constant breaks add up to approximately an additional week of vacation time.
Not only is this unjust for nonsmokers, but employers feel the pinch. Studies have estimated that smoke breaks cost companies $3,077 ( per employed smoker) annually. Banning flavors and reducing the nicotine content in Zyn will have workers running for the nearest designated smoking area.
Schumer’s demand for regulation overstates the risks and overshadows the benefits. This fear-mongering stems from what Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, refers to as “Nicotinophobia.” The association between the dangers of cigarettes and harm reduction products that contain nicotine.
Zyn pouches contain isolated nicotine salt but no tobacco. The danger lies in thousands of chemicals composing cigarette smoke. E-cigarettes also deliver nicotine without tobacco smoke. Public Health England has deemed them 95 percent safer than traditional cigarettes. If we have a safer alternative, it is foolish to ignore its benefits as a nootropic.
Studies have found that smokers report that nicotine has “beneficial effects on concentration and memory.” Nicotine also enhances performance on complex tasks. A double-blind study by Nature found that administering small amounts of nicotine (1 mg) boosted performance on intricate tasks. Past research even suggests that nicotine improves “IQ-related tasks.” Nicotine’s impact on IQ has caught the attention of tech mogul Peter Thiel, who has flirted with the idea of using nicotine patches for the nootropic effects.
Banning or restricting nicotine pouches would have a negative impact on the productivity of former smokers who are Zyn converts. When a nicotine addict tries to quit, they experience temporary cognitive decline. Experts in the field of addiction treatment have observed that withdrawal feels “like the opposite of the drug.” Nicotine is no exception. A 2017 study conducted by the Pennsylvania State University found that nicotine deprivation among smokers had an adverse impact on working memory, “which is critical for our understanding of motivated decision-making.” Other researchers have found that nicotine withdrawal is also associated with decreased reaction time and a decline in verbal and spatial memory.
If Zyn users revert to cigarettes, employers will also suffer from reduced productivity due to smoking-related illnesses. The U.S. economy suffers over “$365 billion in lost productivity each year” because of tobacco-related ailments. Not only do chronic diseases contribute to lower productivity, but smokers are also at higher risk for infections—a 12 percent higher risk for viral infections and a 48 percent greater chance of “being diagnosed with respiratory illness,” leaving co-workers to pick up the workload of their sick peers, putting them under unnecessary stress.
Lawmakers need to realize that targeting Zyn for the sake of America’s youth is misguided. Few kids are using this product, but the harm to adults extends beyond smokers. The impact of smoking-related loss in productivity reverberates throughout the economy. Making Zyn products less appealing to smokers will have our workforce taking excessive breaks, being less focused and being more likely to call out sick. If Schumer wants to tackle a public health crisis facing teens, he should look into automobile accidents, the leading cause of death among teens.

Peter Clark is an Arizona-based writer and commentator. His work has been published by AzCentral, FEE, AIER, & Real Clear Markets. Follow him on X @blog_logic.

February 20, 2024
BC Restricts Pouch Sales to Pharmacies

Photo: StratfordProductions

British Columbia has restricted the sale of nicotine pouches to drug stores, forcing users to consult a pharmacists prior to purchase, reports CBC.
“By limiting access to these products and ensuring they are dispensed by trained health-care professionals, our goal is to prevent their misuse, especially among young people for recreational purposes,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix.
The Canadian Cancer Society applauded the move, noting that while youth smoking rates in B.C. are down, other methods of nicotine consumption are up significantly.
“With the introduction of flavored nicotine pouches last year, youth once again can become addicted to these new tobacco industry products,” it said in a statement.
BAT subsidiary Imperial Tobacco Canada, manufacturer of the Zonnic nicotine pouch brand that was authorized for sale by Health Canada in October 2023, said British Columbia’s move would make it harder for smokers to quit.
“It is mindboggling that the only cessation product in BC that is currently stored behind the counter in convenience stores with retailers requiring age-verification is being targeted by today’s announcement,” said Eric Gagnon, vice-president, corporate and regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada, in a statement.
“If today’s announcement was truly about protecting youth against nicotine, we question why Premier Eby isn’t putting the same restrictions on the other cessation products that contain nicotine and are available over the counter without proof-of-age,” he added.
In November, federal health minister Mark Holland said regulators had been “duped” and vowed to close the loophole that allowed Zonnic to be sold openly.
“There are very serious questions about what the tobacco industry is doing here and what their intention is. And it would seem that their intention is to addict new young people to nicotine, which is disgusting,” Holland said at the time.
Zonnic does not contain tobacco, and because the pouches contain less than four milligrams of nicotine each and are not inhaled, they do not fall under existing federal or provincial tobacco or vaping legislation.

February 12, 2024
The Potential of Pouches

Photo: Stefanie Rossel

Some markets have been more receptive to modern oral products than others.

By Stefanie Rossel

The modern oral nicotine category continues growing but struggles to reach a wider global audience. Modern oral nicotine products, which are white, pre-portioned little bags comprising a nicotine-containing carrier material, are considered the advanced, cleaner version of Swedish snus, a pasteurized oral tobacco that is available as loose products or pouches and is credited with helping Sweden achieve its record-low smoking prevalence by offering smokers a less harmful way to consume nicotine.
According to Euromonitor International, global sales of nicotine pouches grew from 17.09 billion units in 2022 to an estimated 20.77 billion units in 2023. The overwhelming majority of sales, however, take place in the U.S., where an estimated 14.97 billion units were sold in 2023 compared to 12.61 billion units in 2022. Sweden ranks second, with 1.8 billion units sold in 2022 and an estimated 2.2 billion units sold in 2023. It is followed by Denmark with a forecast 745.3 million units in 2023 (versus 589.2 million units in 2022), Pakistan and Austria with estimated sales of 695 million units and 477 million units, respectively.
As far as value is concerned, Euromonitor estimates the category to be worth $10.29 billion globally, up from $8.47 billion in 2022. By 2027, the business intelligence firm expects the segment’s value to reach $15.99 billion. Despite their relentless expansion, modern oral nicotine products remain a niche within a niche—they are a small part of a larger oral tobacco market, which accounted for only around 2 percent of the global nicotine industry in 2022.
Raphael Moreau
In the U.S., retail sales of nicotine pouches generated $8.58 billion in 2023 compared to $7.23 billion in the previous year. Raphael Moreau, head analyst at Euromonitor, expects the U.S. modern oral nicotine market to reach $11.03 billion by 2027.
“The U.S. has benefited from a solid legal framework, with the Food and Drug Administration controlling the market chain, requiring authorization to market, nicotine health warnings and premarket assessment,” Moreau says. “Generally, the U.S. has a strong tradition of oral, i.e., chewing, tobacco. This definitely helped. Nicotine pouches are convenient and discreet to use, and they are taking share from chewing tobacco and Swedish-style snus, which has boosted U.S. sales.”
As consumers become more familiar with the product, Moreau anticipates the market to continue growing rapidly. In 2023, just under 3 percent of the U.S. adult population consumed modern oral nicotine products. “Over the next five years, we will see an increase because of more awareness of the brands,” he says. “There is a wide flavor selection, which appeals to consumers who can’t use flavored vape products anymore as they are banned. The return to office work after the Covid pandemic will also contribute to the category’s growth: When working from home, people were more likely to vape. At the office, pouches are more convenient. Besides, the products are used as a cessation aid away from cigarettes and other combustibles.”
Moreau suspects that the majority of modern oral nicotine is used in combination with other tobacco products. “This also has caveats because potentially, consumers may just try them and not become regular users, so prediction is difficult,” he says.

With a 77 percent category retail value share in the third quarter of 2023, Zyn remains the U.S. market leader.
(Photo: Swedish Match)

Zyn Pulls Further Ahead

With a 77 percent category retail value share in the third quarter of 2023, Zyn is the U.S. market leader by a large margin. Shipment volume of Zyn nicotine pouches amounted to 104.5 million cans during that period, a 65.7 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2022, according to Philip Morris International. PMI became the owner of the Zyn brand through its acquisition of Swedish Match for $16 billion in late 2022. The move has given PMI a comfortable lead in the U.S. nicotine pouch market, where it previously had no presence to speak of, and will help the company to achieve its goal of becoming substantially smoke-free by 2023.
At PMI’s Investor Day Conference in September 2023, Lars Dahlgren, president of smoke-free oral products and CEO of Swedish Match, forecast “stellar growth” for the product also because Zyn is cheaper than cigarettes, retailing at $5 per can compared to a price of $8 for a pack of cigarettes. According to news platform Seeking Alpha, the brand is popular among Generation Z, which has otherwise been a hard market for traditional tobacco companies to crack.
In addition to Zyn, some other brands have made gains recently, according to Moreau. With a retail volume of 15.4 million units and a value share of 11 percent in 2022, Altria’s On! Brand ranks second behind the market leader, followed by Swisher International Group’s Rogue nicotine pouches, with 7.9 million units sold during that period.
The “attractive category dynamics” in the highly competitive U.S. nicotine pouch market also holds potential for new players. In June 2023, ITG Brands acquired a range of nicotine pouches from Canada-based TJP Labs in order to facilitate its entry into the U.S. modern oral market. Following further consumer testing, ITG Brands plans to launch 14 pouch product variants in 2024.
“The category still is very young, so there is no strong brand loyalty, and consumers are likely to try new brands,” comments Moreau. “This makes the market attractive to new entrants. And there’s quite a lot of room for them, as the category is growing very fast.”

Regulation Required

Except for the Nordic countries, where consumers have been familiar with snus for two centuries, the modern oral category is still underdeveloped in the rest of the world.
Japan Tobacco International, present in the segment with its brand Nordic Spirit, sees vast untapped potential. Nordic Spirit was developed in Sweden and has rapidly grown since its launch in 2018. The product is available in the U.K., Ireland, the Philippines and Switzerland. “While the tobacco-free nicotine pouches category is still in its infancy, we already see that many adult tobacco and nicotine consumers globally will be interested in trying the product, helping the new category to grow significantly over the coming years,” says a JTI spokesperson. “For example, smoke-free nicotine pouches have become increasingly popular in the U.K. Responding to this growing trend, the Nordic Spirit brand has witnessed growth and increased its market share to around 45 percent.”
According to Euromonitor, U.K. consumers bought 92.1 million nicotine pouches in 2022. In 2023, the category there grew 54.6 percent.
Pakistan, however, was the country with the largest year-on-year growth rate, with sales in 2023 expected to be 70.7 percent, up from the 127.8 million units sold in 2022. In Pakistan, an estimated 10 million people use smokeless tobacco, which corresponds to more than 40 percent of the country’s total tobacco market. In December 2022, BAT announced that its modern oral nicotine brand Velo, which it had launched in Pakistan in early 2020, had achieved a monthly volume of more than 40 million pouches in the country, making it the company’s third-largest market for nicotine pouches.
Most growth in the category will come from Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe, according to Moreau. In Poland, for instance, the category increased by 69.5 percent in 2023. “The Czech Republic is also interesting because it had quite strong demand in 2022 and 2023,” Moreau says. “This is likely to stay [this way], particularly since nicotine pouches are regulated in the country now.”
In May 2023, Czechia’s Ministry of Health issued a decree, modeled on tobacco and e-cigarette legislation, which regulates the composition, appearance, quality and characteristics of nicotine sachets. It also defines the legal age for sale and requires manufacturers and importers of nicotine sachets to register their products with the Ministry of Health. The legislation entered into force on July 1, 2023.
Other countries, by contrast, have been less accommodating, with the Netherlands and Belgium banning modern oral products in April 2023 and October 2023, respectively. The European Commission, too, is reportedly mulling a ban on nicotine pouches for the common market. The products are also prohibited in Australia and New Zealand.
“History has repeatedly shown that bans of legal products often do not lead to their intended goals and instead encourage criminal gangs to increase supply of illegal products to make up for the shortfalls,” warns JTI’s spokesperson. “Instead of an outright ban, we should aim for an evidence-based regulatory framework that acknowledges the potential of nicotine pouches to reduce the risks associated with smoking. At the same time, we must ensure that oral nicotine products aren’t marketed or sold to minors under any circumstances.”
In Germany, modern oral tobacco continues to operate in a regulatory gray area. Nicotine pouches are classified as food in the country, which makes them subject to European food law. Because the EU has not approved nicotine as a food or food ingredient, this means that nicotine pouches cannot be legally traded in Germany.
Despite the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment’s October 2022 acknowledgement that tobacco-free nicotine pouches could reduce the health risks compared to smoking, the products’ legal status remains unchanged. “It will only change after a decision at EU level,” says Moreau. “Germany is a typical case where an uncertain or hostile landscape and a lack of familiarity with the products are two negative factors that are feeding each other. Whenever the legal status is unclear, not exactly defined or restrictive, retailers will basically avoid selling them. Therefore, consumers will not be aware of the products, and they will not trust them. In Germany, nicotine pouches are still available online, but the products are obviously now not as widespread as [they would have been] if they were sold in stores.”

Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

January 30, 2024
Activists Protests ‘Misguided’ Zyn Probe

Photo: Swedish Match

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission to investigate the marketing practices and health effects of Philip Morris International’s Zyn nicotine pouch brand provoked a backlash among advocates of tobacco harm reduction.
“The American people have seen this movie before with less harmful e-cigarettes,” said Tony Abboud, executive director of the Vapor Technology Association (VTA).
“Congressional leaders yell at unelected bureaucrats at the FDA who scurry to remove products from the market that offend their sensibilities—even though those products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes, and have been proven to help people quit smoking deadly cigarettes altogether.
“These misguided actions deprive American adults of less harmful, non-combustible, and non-tobacco nicotine products that are a proven alternative to combustible cigarettes and that the largest clinical trial in the U.S. has found to cause them to quit smoking even if they have no intention to quit cigarettes.
“There is already a de-facto ban on e-cigarettes. Sen. Schumer simply wants this ban extended to other products he and the Washington establishment deem undesirable.
“As with e-cigarettes, Sen. Schumer falsely asserted that Zyn products are popular with younger users. Yet, the National Youth Tobacco Survey data demonstrates that only 1.5 percent of youth have even tried nicotine pouches. When will the federal government stop hiding behind an excuse that has been disproven by their own data?
“VTA stands with Zyn, and the makers of modern oral nicotine pouches, in the fight against arbitrary and capricious government action. Because cigarettes remain the No. 1 cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S., VTA insists on broad access to a wide variety of non-combustible products to preserve freedom of choice for adults who want to use nicotine – and to provide access to proven harm-reduction and smoking-cessation options essential for saving American lives.”
Earlier, Schumer’s call for an investigation prompted PMI to publish a video clarifying its marketing practices.

January 28, 2024
Haypp Group Confirms Guidance

Photo: Andrii

The Haypp Group, a Swedish online retailer selling reduced-risk products (primarily nicotine pouches and snus in Scandinavia, Europe and the United States), confirmed guidance above consensus during its capital markets day on Nov. 28. The company’s stock was up 12 percent on the day.
The Haypp Group, which has a market capitalization of approximately $140 million, expects to reach net sales of SEK5 billion ($478.54 million) by 2025 in its existing business through organic growth only. Expansion into adjacent categories and new markets will be “on top,” according to the firm.
While Haypp Group will continue to prioritize top-line growth, it expects to reach a high single digit adjusted EBIT margin in the current core and growth markets business in 2025.
To take advantage of its substantial revenue growth opportunities, and after its successful nicotine vaping pilot in the U.K., the Haypp Group plans to enter adjacent markets and reduced-risk product categories in Europe, reinvesting approximately 1 percentage point to 2 percentage points of adjusted EBIT margin through 2025.
As the board and management team look beyond 2025 and the substantial cash generation, Haypp insists it will maintain its prudent custodianship of the group’s resources and return excess cash to shareholders.
“We always put the consumer first,” said Haypp Group CEO Gavin O’Dowd in a statement. “We engage with them every day to understand their needs and desires, and we know them like no other actor in the industry. Our vision to ‘Inspire healthier enjoyment for millions’ motivates our team to provide attractive, materially lower risk nicotine options for consumers whilst simultaneously increasing our global presence.”
The full presentation/webcast is here.

December 5, 2023
Pouches Do little to Curb Cravings: Study

Photo: Ohio State University

Nicotine pouches do little to curb smokers’ nicotine cravings, according to a study by scientists at the Center for Tobacco Research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
The researchers evaluated whether nicotine pouches with different levels of nicotine concentration were more or less appealing to smokers.
They found that current smokers had a much greater spike of nicotine in their blood levels and much sharper relief from craving symptoms when smoking than when using both the low-dose and higher dose nicotine pouches. That spike of nicotine measurable in the blood occurs about five minutes after smoking, explained lead author Brittney Keller-Hamilton.
With nicotine pouches, it typically takes 30 minutes to an hour to hit peak effectiveness. The same is true for the decline in nicotine levels; it is a much more gradual decline as well for oral pouches.
Because of this, says Keller-Hamilton, it is reasonable to see how the craving for instant gratification of cigarette smoking is more appealing than oral nicotine pouches for individuals who are already experiencing nicotine addiction.
“Our challenge is to approach regulation of nicotine pouches to limit their appeal among young people while making them more appealing to adult smokers who would see health benefits by switching from cigarettes—which have the most severe health impacts with long-term use—to nicotine pouches,” said Keller-Hamilton in a statement.

November 21, 2023
Unpacking the Pouch

Photo courtesy of Broughton

How we can better understand the toxicological risk of nicotine in modern oral and other nicotine products
By Libby Clarke
Nicotine may be acutely toxic via all routes of exposure if the dose is high enough, but determining the true extent of its toxicity is challenging because of the variation in data. In 2014, Bernd Mayer highlighted the discrepancy between the generally accepted lethal dose of nicotine and documented cases of nicotine intoxication. Examining these accidental oral ingestion case studies gives us another data point for consideration when determining nicotine toxicity.
In this article, Libby Clarke, managing consultant for toxicology at contract research organization (CRO) and scientific consultancy Broughton, explains how manufacturers can understand the true impact of oral pouches and other nicotine-based products.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, along with other sources, report an estimated lethal dose of around 60 mg when nicotine is ingested orally. While broadly accepted by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies, this value is derived from a series of self-experiments conducted by two individuals in the 19th century, where non-fatal adverse effects were reported.
Mayer estimated that a dose of 60 mg of nicotine would give rise to a plasma concentration of approximately 0.18 mg per liter based on 20 percent oral bioavailability and assuming linear kinetics. Cases of fatal nicotine intoxication cited by Mayer suggest a much higher lethal nicotine blood concentration of approximately 2 mg per liter, corresponding to 4 mg per liter in plasma. Many existing case studies include data on accidental ingestion in children and infants, where the lethal dose is likely lower, as with nicotine naive adults.
There is a significant disparity in the levels of nicotine that individuals can tolerate and a broad range in the upper level of nicotine that nonsmokers can consume without experiencing adverse effects. Research indicates that tolerance increases with repeated use of nicotine products, but the speed at which tolerance grows depends on the frequency of nicotine use, the amount absorbed systemically and individual genetics.
Research Challenges
Understanding nicotine toxicity is essential for determining the likelihood of adverse effects associated with certain products and concentrations, but research is limited. It is unethical to test nicotine toxicity in nonsmokers, and light or nondaily nicotine users are likely to have a lower tolerance, putting them at a higher risk of experiencing adverse effects such as dizziness, nausea and vomiting. On the other hand, established smokers have upregulated receptors in the brain, meaning many more nicotine receptors are available to bind nicotine than in nonsmokers. Therefore, the higher levels of nicotine that produce adverse reactions in nonsmokers are often required to satisfy the cravings of regular smokers.
The wide range in tolerance among adult nicotine users makes it challenging for manufacturers to define a threshold for nicotine toxicity in their products. Meanwhile, attempting to extrapolate findings from children to adults is not recommended due to differences in metabolic capacity, which increases as people grow. There is also a vast difference in metabolic efficiency, even among adults, which limits extrapolation.
Understanding the Effects of Nicotine
One option is for manufacturers to review case studies, conduct postmarket surveillance (PMS) on the incidence of reported adverse effects and use surveys to understand consumer use and the subjective effectiveness of nicotine delivery. For example, Massen et al. (2020) evaluated case studies reporting the clinical symptoms and outcomes associated with accidental or intentional ingestion of nicotine-containing e-liquids, which are limited to 20 mg per milliliter in the EU. Gerdinique C. Maessen et al. reported that the highest nicotine plasma concentration in the surviving group was 0.8 mg per liter. In comparison, the lowest plasma concentration in the patients who did not survive was 1.6 mg per liter.
Another approach is working with a CRO that can conduct dissolution, aerosol characterization for inhaled products and pharmacokinetic studies to inform on the nicotine levels being delivered to users. CROs can also conduct behavioral studies under controlled conditions to understand the use patterns for certain products and what products and strengths are used across population samples.
When developing oral pouches, manufacturers must adhere to the regulatory guidelines that are starting to be brought in by some markets. The rate at which nicotine transfers from the pouch across the buccal membrane is one of the main factors associated with users experiencing adverse effects, so manufacturers should consider a range of nicotine strengths. Dissolution studies and clinical studies may provide useful data to inform nicotine exposure from pouches, and case studies and PMS may also provide valuable insights. Working with a CRO that can conduct such studies is an effective way of understanding a product’s safety profile and form part of a manufacturer’s product stewardship and duty of care responsibilities.

Libby Clarke is managing consultant for toxicology at Broughton, a global scientific consultancy-based CRO across industries in pharmaceuticals, next-generation nicotine-delivery products and cannabinoids.

November 14, 2023
TACJA launches nicotine pouches in Europe

TACJA has launched nicotine pouches in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Sweden.
The products offer eight flavors in two taste series—Mellow and Frozen—and nicotine concentrations of 20 mg/g, 18 mg/g and 12 mg/g. According to TACJA, the products contain pharmaceutical-grade ingredients and comply with the European Union Good Manufacturing Practice.
“We are thrilled to introduce TACJA, offering a diverse range of flavors and a delightful sensory presence,” said Charles An of TACJA in a statement. “Our nicotine pouches are designed to provide users with moments of quality and unconstraint,” he added.

October 19, 2023
Health Canada Licenses Nicotine Pouch

Photo: Andrii

Health Canada has granted Nicoventures Trading permission to sell Zonnic, a nicotine pouch that can help adult smokers quit smoking by delivering nicotine to the body. The product will be distributed in Canada exclusively by BAT subsidiary Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN).
“This is a first for Canada. No other nicotine pouch has received Health Canada’s authorization. Zonnic will give smokers a new option to help them quit smoking,” said ITCAN President and CEO Frank Silva, President in a statement.
“We all agree, smoking is the cause of serious diseases, and we are committed to reducing the health impact of our business. The addition of Zonnic to our product portfolio is the next step in this journey.’’
Zonnic, which temporarily relieves cravings and nicotine withdrawal symptoms, is licensed as a Natural Health Product and has been authorized for sale by Health Canada for use as a form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). Zonnic contains no tobacco.
As part of its license application, Nicoventures provided all information required by Health Canada, including a pharmacokinetics study that assessed the bioavailability of nicotine in Zonnic in comparison to other commercially available NRTs. The study showed that Zonnic nicotine pouches effectively deliver nicotine, and are comparable to other commercial brands.
“Canada has a golden opportunity to achieve its reducing smoking rates below 5 percent by 2035. We just have to look at Sweden to see how it can be done. Sweden is about to become the first smoke free country,” said Silva. “This is being achieved by embracing new, less harmful nicotine products and creating a policy environment which encourages smokers to move away from smoking. With Canadian smoking rates at an all-time low, we believe that Zonnic can reduce rates even further, and help Canada get the same results as Sweden.”
‘’I am immensely proud to add Zonnic to our product portfolio that hit the shelves this week in convenience stores and later this year in pharmacies. Offering a range of less harmful products to smoking will benefit our adult consumers and society as a whole,’’ concluded Silva.

October 12, 2023
Premier to Distribute NIC-S Pouches

Photo: Premier Manufacturing/Enorama Pharma

Premier Manufacturing, a subsidiary of U.S. Tobacco Cooperative, and Enorama Pharma have entered into an exclusive distribution agreement regarding the sale of NIC-S, tobacco-free white snus, for the U.S. market.
“The growth and sales potential in tobacco free nicotine pouch market is growing exponentially”, said Premier Manufacturing Sales Director Steve Lucas. “We wanted to offer our customers and their consumers a broader range of products and NIC-S is a great partner to achieve this”, said Lucas.
“We at Enorama are very pleased to have entered into this distribution agreement with Premier Manufacturing and we look forward to a long and close collaboration. We are convinced that Premier Manufacturing, its extensive sales organization and a wide contact network, will be a valuable partner for Enorama’s expansion in the American market.” said CEO Annette Agerskov.
NIC-S is available in a wide range of options allowing the consumer to tailor their nicotine intake. “With three different nicotine strengths—3 mg, 6 mg and 9 mg—and several flavors such as wintergreen, mint, orange, berry, cinnamon and flavor free; consumers will be sure to find a favorite style—or two,” said Lucas.
“Everyone at Premier Manufacturing is excited about the opportunity to partner with Enorama Pharma to supply our customers with a superior quality premium tobacco-free white pouch that will satisfy the growing number of consumers entering this exciting category,” said U.S. Tobacco Cooperative Senior Vice President Russ Mancuso.
Premier Manufacturing will be doing a full marketing campaign promoting NIC-S that will include point-of-sale materials, print and digital ad campaigns, display fixtures and various websites. Product will be available via Premier’s distribution network throughout the U.S. in the coming months.

September 8, 2023