26
TOBACCO BUSINESS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014
to
regulate e-cigs
, alleging that
e-cig manufacturers “are taking
advantage of the absence of
regulation to market their products
to young smokers” by “using many
of the exact same advertising
and
promotional
techniques
used for decades by cigarette
manufacturers to hook teenagers
on their products,” including TV
and magazine advertisements,
celebrity endorsements, sport and
event sponsorships, and the use of
cartoon characters.
…U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) Director Thomas
Frieden said the U.S.’s overall progress
against smoking is threatened by new
products like
e-cigs and little cigars
,
which he said fall through loopholes in
federal regulations.
…Altria Group and Philip Morris
International announced December
20 that they entered into a series of
licensing, supply and agreements
whereby PMI has the right to
exclusively sell
Altria’s e-vapor
products
outside the U.S., Altria
has the right to exclusively sell in
the U.S. two “candidate reduced-
risk tobacco products” that heat
tobacco, which PMI is developing,
and the two would work together
on scientific assessments and
regulatory authorizations.
…Stifel analysts said that the deal
gives PMI a “quick entry” into the
e-cig category and the fast-growing
e-cig markets like the UK, France
and Italy, while also smoothing out
the process of working with the FDA
and getting approval for Altria to
sell PMI’s Platform 1 and Platform
2 products as modified-risk tobacco
products in the U.S., though any
FDA approval of MRTPs
is expected
to take “at least two years.”
tB
TMA REPORT
On Other tObaccO news…
With its exclusive agreement with
Altria, Philip Morris International
seeks quick entry to the overseas
e-cig category.
