Following the authorisation of the Philip Morris IQOS as a tobacco product with “reduced exposure” and the recent announcement of the IQOS 3 being authorised for sale , it’s clear that heated tobacco products (sometimes referred to as HTPs or heat-not-burn) will continue to increase in popularity in 2021 and beyond.

Here are our thoughts on the future of HTPs within the tobacco industry.

At first glance, HTPs and e-cigarettes look very similar. However, there are a few key differences between the two nicotine-containing products.

While e-cigarettes use e-liquid to create the vapour emitted during use, HTPs heat a form of tobacco (leaf or reconstituted material) in a controlled environment to prevent it from combusing. This means that while HTPs contain nicotine which is already present in the tobacco used, nicotine is usually added to e-liquids (although nicotine-free e-liquids are sometimes also used).

The question of whether HTPs are safer than vaping is often asked, and as they are such a new category, it isn’t possible to precisely answer this quite yet. Data from a host of peer-reviewed sources demonstrate vast reduction in harmful chemicals when compared to combustible cigarettes, when compared to ENDS, they also appear to have substantially more toxicants and at significantly higher levels. It is key to stress however that the data available demonstrate a marked reduction to cigarettes and so present a less harmful alternative to smokers who would otherwise smoke cigarettes. 

This is further recognized by FDA who noted that scientific studies found evidence that smokers switching from traditional combustible cigarettes to IQOS significantly lowered the user’s exposure to harmful chemicals.

Cigarettes provide smokers with nicotine from tobacco, however cigarette smoke also includes thousands of harmful chemicals, including at least 70 which are known to cause cancer and can also contribute to other smoking-related illnesses such as heart disease and lung disease. The vast majority of these chemicals are formed from the combustion or burning of the tobacco cigarette. 

Because HTPs don’t combust tobacco, they don’t produce the same quantity of toxicants, which means that they expose users to fewer harmful chemicals and at lower levels when compared to combustible cigarettes.

While still not endorsed by FDA, Philip Morris are now permitted to describe IQOS products as safer than combustible cigarettes, which means is beneficial to other HTPs in development or undergoing regulatory scrutiny. So, it’s likely that there will be a rise in the availability and popularity of HTPs which will provide adult smokers with less-harmful alternatives to smoking. 

Of course, as we have seen with ENDS in recent years, innovations in tobacco products tend to be followed by the implementation of regulation to ensure that they are appropriately ‘safe’ for public health. Here at Inter Scientific, we will be following updates around HTP carefully to ensure that we can support our clients in getting their products on the market safely and legally.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a multinational organisation developing HTPs, our experts can assist you in every stage of product development, from regulatory & development strategy to  material sourcing and manufacturing to product testing and troubleshooting. Click here to learn how we can help your business to ensure compliance with tobacco regulations.

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