Après R.J. Reynolds (marque Camel) [1] et Philip Morris (Marlboro) [2], c'est au tour de British American Tobacco (BAT) de se diversifier sur le marché de la nicotine inhalée.
BAT a signé un accord de licence pour une nouvelle cigarette électronique en cours de développement [3, 4, 5, 6]. Ce dispositif serait soumis à l'homologation des autorités compétentes mais pas en tant que médicament.
Note : le marché visé est celui monopolisé par Big Pharma, estimé à 1,6 milliards d'euros par an et sans doute plus largement encore celui de la réduction du risque du tabagisme.
Illustration : Tête de fumeur, Mirò, 1925
Références
- Big Pharma attaquée sur le juteux marché de la dépendance à la nicotine
- Philip Morris Int'l buys rights to nicotine system
Associated Press, 26.05.2011
Philip Morris International Inc. has purchased the rights to a technology that lets users inhale nicotine without smoking. It has bought the patent for an aerosol nicotine-delivery system developed by Jed Rose, director of the Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
Spokesman Peter Nixon said it may take three to five years to develop a commercial product that would be considered an alternative to conventional cigarettes. - Leahy invests in 'safe' tobacco
The Independant, 03.06.2011
Sir Terry has invested an undisclosed sum in the start-up company Kind Consumer, which is developing a non-tobacco, aerosol-loaded, nicotine inhalation device that keeps the "psychological rituals and routines" of smoking.
Sir Terry added: "I believe it will make a difference, not only to the lives of smokers who have repeatedly tried to quit, but to the public health of our nation. "It makes perfect business sense too. There's a huge gap in the market for a product like this that sits between cigarettes and the very medicalised nicotine replacement therapies."
[Sir Terry Leahy est l'ancien PDG de Tesco, 1er groupe de distribution britannique et 3e groupe mondial. Un connaisseur de la distribution grand public...] - New nicotine product will mimic cigarettes
Tobaccoreporter, 07.06.2011
The BAT subsidiary Nicoventures will licence a nicotine aerosol product from Kind Consumer that “will mimic the ‘psychological rituals and routines’ of smoking”; “will appeal to smokers who don’t want to quit”; “contained no tobacco, created no heat and delivered no smoke”. In addition it was reported they plan “to submit an application for marketing authorisation in the UK next year” which suggests they intend to legally position it as a substitute for pharma, though it sounds like functionally it will be a substitute for e-cigarettes. - BAT aims to smoke out nicotine lovers who find cigarettes a drag
Financial Times, 05.04.2011
Nicoventures, a stand-alone company which will be managed separately from the Group’s tobacco businesses, aims to provide adult smokers with a range of alternative products - currently unavailable on the market - that will offer them much of the experience they expect to get from a cigarette but without the real and serious health risks of smoking. The creation of Nicoventures is a natural extension of British American Tobacco’s approach to tobacco harm reduction that has been developed over a number of years. - Pursuit of a safer cigarette gathers pace (pdf)
Financial Times online, 01.06.2011
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