The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is intensifying its efforts to regulate the vaping product business.
The agency's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has outlined steps it plans to take to further prevent the damage to public health that it says e-cigarettes pose to the young.
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"As we enter this era of declining use of combustible tobacco and continued innovation in the e-cigarette industry, the societal concerns are not subtle," said the FDA's Commissioner of Food and Drugs Robert Califf in a statement Feb. 24. "Our ability to keep pace with these changes will depend on immediate, short-term and long-term actions the center is taking that we believe will position the agency to more successfully implement our regulatory oversight of tobacco products."
The FDA cites its pending applications review process for e-cigarette products as an area of focus.
"As the agency continues to make progress on its review of new and pending applications for novel products like e-cigarettes, the FDA will take additional action to remove illegal products from the market -- particularly ones that have led to e-cigarettes being the most commonly used tobacco product among youth," the statement said.
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Marlboro maker Philip Morris (PM) is an increasingly big player in the e-cigarette market.
"Philip Morris is well ahead of peers in reduced-risk products, which the company expects to be the majority of its business by 2025," according to Barron's. "They already account for nearly 30% of sales, compared with roughly 15% for Altria Group (MO) and British American Tobacco (BTAFF) ."
For now, the CTP is targeting e-cigarette companies whose products lack required FDA marketing authorization.
"Between January 2021 and February 17, 2023, the FDA has issued more than 550 warning letters to companies for continuing to sell e-cigarette products that lacked the required FDA marketing authorization," the statement said. "These companies had millions of products listed with the FDA."
"After receiving warning letters, a majority of these companies have complied and removed their products from the market. However, in cases where companies did not do so, the FDA can pursue further enforcement action."
