“Combustion is the issue, not nicotine,” said Philip Morris International Chief Executive Officer André Calantzopoulos while referring to the recent US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization to market IQOS as a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) with reduced exposure claims.
During a virtual press briefing held recently, Calantzopoulos said the US FDA “recognizes that better alternatives do exist because they are all non-combustibles. It articulates very clearly, combustion is the issue.”
On July 7, 2020, the US FDA released the MRTP marketing order for IQOS, the first innovative electronic product to receive “exposure modification” orders, authorizing IQOS to be marketed with the following claims:
• The IQOS system heats tobacco but does not burn it.
• This significantly reduces the production of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals.
• Scientific studies have shown that switching completely from conventional cigarettes to the IQOS system significantly reduces your body’s exposure to harmful or potentially harmful chemicals.
“It is pretty clear that technology has advanced, and we have novel products, all of which have one foundational characteristic—they do not burn. There is no combustion. These products, because there is no combustion of tobacco, produce less harmful substances,” Calantzopoulos said.
With the FDA’s authorization, Calantzopoulus is optimistic that it will end the debate on better alternatives to cigarettes.
Inquirer.Net – July 18, 2020.