Reynolds to begin marketing low priced Zonnic NRT gum in convenience stores, test market in Des Moines

[Bill Godshall]

Reynolds to begin marketing low priced Zonnic NRT gum in convenience stores
Reynolds adds aids to stop smoking | JournalNow.com

Reynolds could quickly grab some NRT gum market share from drug companies by selling Zonnic ten-packs for $3 at convenience stores (which I've unsuccessfully urged drug companies to do for the past several years).

Will be interesting to see if Reynolds places Zonnic with cigarette displays or with other NRT products at pharmacies (as many/most NRT product displays are locked and only accessible by sales clerks).

Will also be interesting to see the reactions by Medicare, Medicaid, health insurers and those who have lobbied for laws requiring taxpayers and healthcare insurers to provide free or heavily subsidized NRT products to smokers.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Payne said Zonnic already has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

So that's what Payne has been focussing on for the past three years.
Before becoming president of Niconovum, Payne was head of government affairs (i.e. lobbying) for RJ Reynolds.

 

[VapApe]

Do they come in yummy flavors ?

You should see all the flavors of NRT they have at Wall Mart.

 

[Petrodus]

Do they come in yummy flavors ?
You should see all the flavors of NRT they have at Wall Mart.

Mmmm ...
Guess NRT flavors don't target kids, just e-cigarette flavors !

 

[jj2]

Mmmm ...
Guess NRT flavors don't target kids, just e-cigarette flavors !

That is what I was thinking!!

 

[recidivus]

mmmmm...these NRTs taste like greenbacks!

 

[Vocalek]

Walk through a Wal-Mart and observe where all those "kid-friendly flavors" of NRTs are shelved. I have photos of them being on the bottom shelf out in the open where the band-aids and cold remedies are stocked.

On the other hand, where I have been able to find e-cigarettes or dissolvable tobacco products, they have been behind the counter where the cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and other tobacco products are stored. They require assistance of a sales person for someone to get their hands on them.

 

[Petrodus]

Walk through a Wal-Mart and observe where all those "kid-friendly flavors" of NRTs are shelved. I have photos of them being on the bottom shelf out in the open where the band-aids and cold remedies are stocked.

On the other hand, where I have been able to find e-cigarettes or dissolvable tobacco products, they have been behind the counter where the cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and other tobacco products are stored. They require assistance of a sales person for someone to get their hands on them.

Did ya ever ask the store management why they hide e-cigarettes and
dissolvable tobacco products and openly display the candy flavored NRTs ??

 

[VapApe]

What your expecting a wall mart manager to know were somethings at?

Good luck on that one

 

[rothenbj]

I was a bit confused by CTFK's statements-

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said it expects Reynolds to take the Zonnic products through the “appropriate regulatory process established to protect public health.”

“The key issue here isn’t consumer or advocacy support, but that the manufacturer follows the law and FDA effectively enforces the law to protect public health,” the group said.

Earlier in the article it specified that the product was FDA approved so I don't understand what else these ANTZ are looking for?

 

[recidivus]

Walk through a Wal-Mart and observe where all those "kid-friendly flavors" of NRTs are shelved. I have photos of them being on the bottom shelf out in the open where the band-aids and cold remedies are stocked.

On the other hand, where I have been able to find e-cigarettes or dissolvable tobacco products, they have been behind the counter where the cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and other tobacco products are stored. They require assistance of a sales person for someone to get their hands on them.

This blows my mind. While looking for vinyl gloves I ended up staring at the NRTs. All were at child height. I didn't see if lozenges were there, but gums, patches, the old standards were all there. This is up in Canada where there's strict regulation on tobacco products, they must be kept behind opaque doors, out of view. You want a smoke, you gotta know your brand. Smoking age is 21 now, but any kid can grab a box of gum.

 

[Stubby]

This blows my mind. While looking for vinyl gloves I ended up staring at the NRTs. All were at child height. I didn't see if lozenges were there, but gums, patches, the old standards were all there. This is up in Canada where there's strict regulation on tobacco products, they must be kept behind opaque doors, out of view. You want a smoke, you gotta know your brand. Smoking age is 21 now, but any kid can grab a box of gum.

Is that the same Canada where black market cigarettes can be had for a song and dance? Last I heard there are provinces where 50% of cigarettes sold are black market. I'M sure all the teens in Canada are good boys and girls who would never think of doing something illegal. I know that's how they all are down hear in the land of the brave and home of the free.

 

[Drew_]

Did ya ever ask the store management why they hide e-cigarettes and
dissolvable tobacco products and openly display the candy flavored NRTs ??

Because candy flavored NRTs are made by GlaxoSmithKline. They are sold as a cessation device but in my experience that's not always the case. I know people who just went from smoking to chewing the gum indefinitely. Interesting is that up until now big pharm's NRTs have not been considered a tobacco product, but it's going to look a little strange with Reyolds selling the stuff in the tobacco case a few isles down.

 

[Bill Godshall]

rothenbj wrote

Earlier in the article it specified that the product was FDA approved so I don't understand what else these ANTZ are looking for?

It is very likely that Matt Myers didn't know (just as I didn't know) that Zonnic had already been approved by the FDA as a NRT when Richard Craver interviewed him for the article.

When Craver asked me (several days before the article was published) my thoughts about FDA's response to Reynolds marketing Zonnic and other NRT products, I told him that I was very concerned that FDA may treat Reynolds differently than drug companies because the FDA has made inaccurate and misleading claims about tobacco manufacturers and products.

I only found out that FDA had already approved Zonnic when I read his news article that stated it, and suspect Myers did too.

 

[Vocalek]

While looking for something else, I came across this abstract of a study using Zonnic for smoking cessation.

Nicotine Tob Res. 2010 Feb;12(2):179-83. Epub 2010 Jan 11.
Randomized crossover trial of the acceptability of snus, nicotine gum, and Zonnic therapy for smoking reduction in heavy smokers.
Caldwell B, Burgess C, Crane J.
Source

Department of Medicine, University of Otago, PO Box 7343, Wellington, New Zealand. brent.caldwell@otago.ac.nz
Abstract
INTRODUCTION:

Novel approaches to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) are needed to improve the modest long-term quit rate of 10%. Snus (Swedish tobacco) and Zonnic (oral nicotine sachet) rapidly deliver nicotine via buccal absorption and have potential as NRTs. As a prelude to formal evaluation of either product as a smoking cessation therapy, it is necessary to determine their acceptability and the willingness of smokers to use them in populations with no history of access to oral tobacco products.
METHODS:

An open-label crossover study of ad libitum snus, Zonnic, and nicotine gum among 63 smokers for 2 weeks each, and smoking reduction if the subjects did not feel the desire to smoke. Diary cards recorded use of products and cigarettes; formal and ad hoc scales measured urges to smoke, withdrawal symptoms, and the sensory quality of the products.
RESULTS:

Subjects preferred snus and Zonnic over gum. Snus and Zonnic were superior to gum in reducing urges to smoke and caused fewer side effects. All three products suppressed withdrawal symptoms. Subjects reduced their smoking by Ms of 33%, 37%, and 42% during the gum, snus, and Zonnic fortnights, respectively.
DISCUSSION:

Most subjects reported a strong desire to use Zonnic or snus to quit smoking. Subjects preferred snus and Zonnic, which both had significantly fewer gastrointestinal side effects than gum and resulted in greater reductions in smoking. Snus and Zonnic are effective in suppressing desires to smoke and reducing smoking, and further studies are warranted to investigate their effect on long-term quit rates.

Randomized crossover trial of the acceptabi... [Nicotine Tob Res. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

 

[TennDave]

I wonder if you can extract the nicotine from these NRT's for vaping if they are cheap enough?
Seems you wouldn't even have to flavor them- the flavor is yummy and already there!!!

(just a thought but could help if e-liquid in bulk was banned)

 

[Bill Godshall]

If/when Zonnic gains market share among NRT products (as Reynolds plans to sell it for $3 per ten pack at hundreds of thousands of convenience stores), I wouldn't be surprised if some anti tobacco groups (that don't receive drug industry funding) begin to denounce and campaign against NRT (just because Reynolds is selling it too).

 

[DC2]

If/when Zonnic gains market share among NRT products (as Reynolds plans to sell it for $3 per ten pack at hundreds of thousands of convenience stores), I wouldn't be surprised if some anti tobacco groups (that don't receive drug industry funding) begin to denounce and campaign against NRT (just because Reynolds is selling it too).

Should be interesting.

I would think if they do that, they will pull the entire Tobacco Harm Reduction debate into the public arena.
And if that happens, they are going to lose, and Big Pharma might even wind up getting exposed.