A device that heats tobacco without burning it reduces some of the
harmful chemicals in traditional cigarettes, but government scientists
say it's unclear if that translates into lower rates of disease for
smokers who switch.To get more news about
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U.S.
regulators published a mixed review Monday of the closely watched
cigarette alternative from Philip Morris International. The company
hopes to market the electronic device as the first "reduced-risk"
tobacco product ever sanctioned by the U.S. government.
Philip
Morris' penlike device, called iQOS, is already sold in more than 30
countries, including Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. But Philip
Morris and its U.S. partner, Altria, need the permission of the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) to sell it in the U.S.iQOS heats strips of
Marlboro-branded tobacco but stops short of burning them, producing a
tobacco vapor that includes nicotine. This is different from
e-cigarettes, which don't use tobacco at all but instead vaporize liquid
usually containing nicotine. Nicotine is what makes cigarettes
addictive.
Philip Morris believes its product is closer to the
taste and experience of traditional cigarettes, making it more
attractive to smokers and reducing their contact with tar and other
toxic byproducts of burning cigarettes.
Company scientists will
present their studies and marketing plan to a panel of FDA advisers this
week. The panel's recommendation, expected Thursday, is non-binding:
the FDA will make the ultimate decision on the device later this year.A
greenlight from FDA would mark a major milestone in efforts by both the
industry and government to provide less harmful tobacco products to
smokers who can't or won't quit cigarettes. Despite decades of tax
hikes, smoking bans and campaigns, about 15 percent of U.S. adults
smoke.
Levels of certain harmful chemicals were between 55 and 99
percent lower in the vapor produced by iQOS than in cigarette smoke.
But animal and laboratory studies submitted by the company also
suggested the chemicals could still be toxic and contribute to
precancerous growths. A company study in mice could help clarify the
cancer risk, but the FDA said the results would not be available until
later this year.
Under a 2009 law, the FDA gained authority to
regulate a number of aspects of the tobacco industry. The same law
allows the agency to scientifically review and permit sales of new
products shown to be less dangerous than what's currently available. But
the FDA has not yet allowed any company to advertise a "reduced-risk"
tobacco product.To meet FDA requirements, a company must show that the
product will improve the health of individual users and the overall
population. Additionally, the product should not appeal to non-smokers
or interfere with smokers looking to quit.
The FDA review said
some non-smokers, including young people, would likely experiment with
iQOS. Reviewers also questioned if smokers would completely switch to
iQOS from cigarettes. In company studies, less than 20 percent of U.S.
users switched completely to iQOS over six weeks.
Philip Morris
and other global tobacco companies are diversifying their products
beyond traditional cigarettes, making investments in e-cigarettes,
heated tobacco products and chewable tobacco pouches, among other
alternatives. While cigarettes remain enormously profitable the global
market continues to contract amid worldwide campaigns to discourage
smoking.
The Wall