The proprietary “very low nicotine cigarettes” have been found to contain lower levels of cancer causing compounds, such as nicotine-derived nitrosamines – NNK (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone) and NNN (N’-nitrosonornicotine.) Specifically the NNN levels are within the lower one-third of the concentration range of typical tobacco cigarettes; and the NNK quantities are lower than the lowest published levels of NNK for commercial cigarette products.
The data is outlined in a CDC study published in the journal Tobacco Regulatory Science. In the paper, the CDC refer to the cigarettes, branded SPECTRUM®, as an “important tool in clinical studies” and one for further investigating in the drive to reduce the harmful effects of smoking tobacco and “the impact of reduced nicotine cigarettes on nicotine addiction.”
Biopharmaceutical Analyst Jason Napodano, CFA (@JNapodano) tweeted: “The US CDC is backing the use of $XXII SPECTRUM cigarettes for research use” in response to the news.
The cigarettes are manufactured by the 22nd Century Group, Inc. The company is a plant biotechnology company focused on technology which allows it to increase or decrease the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in cannabis plants through genetic engineering and plant breeding. The cigarettes are for research purposes only.
The report outlining the benefits of reduced nicotine cigarettes was put together by 18 senior CDC scientists. The research indicated there is a close similarity in the chemistry and physical properties of SPECTRUM® cigarettes compared to commercial cigarettes. The main, and important difference, is with the nicotine content. The nicotine levels “range from very low to within the range reported for commercial products (0.28 – 25.0 mg/g).”
The implications are that the cigarettes can next be evaluated to see what the impact is of reduced nicotine levels for cigarette addictiveness together with smoking cessation success rates. The news could also be lucrative for the company, as financier Wealthy Venture Cap (@Wealthy_VC) tweeted: “$XXII NEWS: 22nd Century’s Proprietary SPECTRUM® Cigarettes Identified as Crucial Tool in Human Addiction Studies.”
The research paper is titled “Characterization of SPECTRUM Variable Nicotine Research Cigarettes.”
