As part of Juul Labs’ ongoing engagement with the public health community, the company today announced findings from a new study at the AcademyHealth 2020 Annual Research Meeting, demonstrating significant cigarette smoking reductions among adult smokers who were provided with the JUUL System. The conference, which took place virtually, focuses on the intersection of health, health care, and policy.
Results from a randomized trial of adult smokers revealed that more than 20% of adult smokers transitioned off of cigarettes completely when provided with the JUUL System for 6 months. This compares to less than 5% transitioning off of cigarettes in the control group, in which participants were only given printed materials from the CDC on smoking cessation.
For the participants who were provided the JUUL System, the number of cigarettes smoked per day at a 6-month follow-up was reduced by an average of 52.1%, compared to a 23.2% average reduction in the control arm.
These results are particularly promising given that less than 3% of the participants entered the study with plans to quit smoking in the next month.
Developing new technologies to deliver nicotine that reduce toxicant exposure is key to harm reduction. As a number of public health experts have observed: to transition adult smokers completely, ENDS must sufficiently appeal to smokers, provide a satisfying nicotine experience, and be lower in toxicity and harm.
Data from several studies has suggested that vapor products can provide a potential alternative to combustible cigarettes. However, many studies involve smokers who have already purchased vapor products, or expressed that they purchased them with the intention to quit smoking, which means that they are not necessarily representative of the average smoker who did not purchase such products. This study sought to remove this type of bias by enrolling adult smokers regardless of quit intentions (i.e. not specifically selecting those motivated to quit), and by randomizing whether they received e-cigarettes (or not) in the study.
“Our studies have shown that, on average, use of the JUULpod e-liquid formulation with a 5% nicotine concentration results in a nicotine delivery experience that is competitive enough with a combustible cigarette to facilitate an adult smoker’s switch,” says Mark Rubinstein, Vice President of Global Scientific Affairs at Juul Labs. “In this study, even smokers who had not demonstrated plans to quit in the next 30 days were able to abstain from smoking entirely when provided with a competitive alternative to combustible cigarettes.”
Juul Labs’ goal is to provide adult smokers with a nicotine experience that is competitive with combustible cigarettes in order to transition them away from combustible cigarette use. Further research is needed on long-term switching using vapor products, and the long-term impact of vapor product use.
Juul Labs will continue to share results from its science and research program with the public health communities as it works to support the scientific basis for the category, as well as future regulatory filings.
About the Study
The Effect of Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Use on Combustible Cigarette Smoking: Findings from a Randomized Trial was presented virtually at the AcademyHealth 2020 Annual Research Meeting.
The study presented findings from a randomized trial of 837 adult smokers who smoked a minimum of ten cigarettes a day and had not used a vapor product for at least a month prior. Less than 3% of them planned to stop smoking in the next 30 days. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the first group was provided with a JUUL Device and tobacco-flavored JUULpods (5% nicotine concentration); the second group was provided with a JUUL Device and a variety of flavored JUULpods (5% nicotine concentration); and the third group was only provided printed materials with information on CDC-approved means to quit smoking.
Participants were asked questions about their smoking behavior at the beginning of the study and again after 1, 3, and 6 months. The results demonstrated that the adult smokers who were provided the JUUL System reported significant reductions in cigarette consumption as compared to those who were only given the printed materials.
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