FDA reveals plans to cut nicotine in cigarettes
- FDA announced major regulatory shift on Friday; sent tobacco shares diving
- The move to cut nicotine levels has been hailed by experts as a world-first
- US officials also said they plan to do more to promote e-cigarettes to smokers
Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com
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Reuters
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has unveiled plans to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes to make them less addictive.
The major regulatory shift announced on Friday sent traditional cigarette company stocks plunging.
US officials said they also plan to to more to promote e-cigarettes to smokers, in light of recent research which showed e-cigarettes help smokers to quit.
The move means FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has thrown his regulatory weight on the side of those advocating for e-cigarettes in the debate over whether they potentially hold some public health benefits.
The major regulatory shift announced on Friday sent traditional cigarette company stocks plunging. Public health officials around the world have hailed the move as a historic step
Shares of major tobacco companies in the United States and UK slumped in heavy trading volume, with the world’s biggest producers poised to lose about $60 billion of market value.
The FDA’s move extends the timeline for applications for new e-cigarette clearance by the FDA to August 8, 2022.
It gives e-cigarette companies more time to keep their products on the market before the agency goes into the process of final review.
It also gives the FDA more time to set the proper framework for regulating e-cigarettes.
‘It’s hard to overstate what this could mean for the companies affected: non-addictive levels of nicotine would likely mean a lot fewer smokers and of those people who do still light up, smoking a lot less,’ said Neil Wilson, a senior market analyst with ETX Capital in London.
‘This is just the U.S. regulator acting but we can easily see others, particularly in Europe, where regulatory pressures are already extremely high, following suit,’ Wilson said.
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British American Tobacco shares, trading close to all-time highs, fell as much as 11 percent and were on track for their biggest one-day loss in nearly 18 years.
Altria, which makes the Marlboro brand of cigarettes, fell as much as 16 percent, slipping into the red for the year.
‘These long awaited plans from the US Food and Drug Administration have international significance,’ Professor Linda Bault, a health policy expert at the University of Stirling, said.
‘They suggest the US may be the first country in the world to require product standard for cigarettes that include reducing nicotine to non-addictive levels.
‘They are also providing a reprieve for e-cigarette manufacturers, giving them more time to submit documents to get current and future products approved. The first of these developments could be problematic, while the second is welcome.’
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