New research further reinforces reduced-risk potential of oral nicotine pouches as compared to traditional tobacco products

• New multi-year research programme of BAT’s oral nicotine product Velo further demonstrates the product’s reduced-risk potential when used as a complete substitute for continued cigarette smoking
• Study also indicates that a range of nicotine strengths and addition of various flavours do not decrease cell viability when exposed to the evaluated Velo products relative to controls
• Scientific evidence reinforces BAT’s ability to deliver A Better Tomorrow™ by building A Smokeless World

Three scientific studies of BAT’s oral nicotine product Velo have reinforced the reduced-risk potential of the category, while showing that the addition of various flavours and a range of nicotine strengths do not decrease cell viability when exposed to the evaluated Velo products relative to controls.

The findings of the multi-year, three-phase programme are the latest in a wide range of studies into oral nicotine products, helping to increase the breadth of data available and provide insights into the real-world health impact of oral nicotine pouches.

Widespread adoption of snus and oral nicotine products has helped countries like Sweden reduce smoking prevalence rates from 16.5% in 2004 to 5.8% today¹. This is by far the lowest in the EU and one of the lowest in the world.

Elaine Round, Group Head of Life Sciences at BAT, said: “If we are serious about building A Smokeless World, we need to ensure we continue to develop cutting-edge scientific evidence to demonstrate the reduced-risk potential of the products we sell.

This research is another important milestone for the oral nicotine category: building on the wealth of data that already exists to support our belief that reduced-risk^*† products like Velo can play an important role in offering smokers satisfactory, complete alternatives to continued cigarette smoking.

In particular, the findings that the addition of particular flavours and a range of nicotine strengths did not increase measures of cytotoxicity are particularly encouraging given the important role these product attributes can play in offering adult smokers satisfactory alternatives.”

Three studies have been released recently, focused on the oral nicotine category:

• The first study (Bishop et al 2020²) presented an approach for creating tobacco and nicotine product extracts for in vitro testing) and toxicologically assessed BAT’s Velo (under its prior brand name Lyft) against both a reference cigarette and comparator snus product. The results supported the oral nicotine pouch category, and Velo specifically, as reduced risk^*†.
• The second study (East et al 2021³) used the above approach to test a wide range of Velo flavours and nicotine strengths in both cultured lung cells and a physiologically relevant oral cell model, showing limited toxicity across product variants tested. This demonstrated that the studied flavours and nicotine strengths do not increase measures of cytotoxicity for the Velo products.
• The third study (Yu et al 2024⁴) tested a selection of Velo products from the previous study in both traditional and contemporary tests for DNA damage and mutations while also assessing inflammation, and again showed minimal responses compared to snus reference product. As a result, this study further evidenced the reduced risk^*† profile of Velo.

About nicotine pouch products

BAT’s innovative nicotine pouch products are sold under the global brand Velo. These products offer a device-free and reduced risk^*† alternative to continued cigarette smoking for adult smokers, as well as a satisfying way to consume nicotine. Nicotine pouches are used by placing the pouch under the upper lip and then absorbing the nicotine through tissues lining the mouth. Velo nicotine pouches contain pharmaceutical-grade nicotine, water, and other high-quality ingredients, including eucalyptus and pine fibres, flavourings, and sweeteners. Velo is a leading global brand of nicotine pouches and available in 34 markets with further market launches planned.

About the science behind nicotine pouches  

Oral nicotine products are widely studied, and we believe they offer reduced risk^*†, as toxicant levels are lower than in snus – a traditional oral tobacco product that is already regarded as a reduced risk alternative to smoking, based on over 30 years of epidemiological studies.

Laboratory chemical studies of our oral nicotine pouch products show they produce substantially lower levels of toxicants than do traditional cigarettes. Toxicology tests assessing the biological effects of our nicotine pouch products on laboratory cells also show they have reduced effects relative to cigarettes and snus³.

Moreover, in 2021, we published peer-reviewed evidence⁵ that suggests oral tobacco-free nicotine pouches have a toxicant profile that is comparable to nicotine replacement therapy products (NRT). The studied pouches were also found to have a toxicant profile that is far lower than snus. On the basis of our scientific research and informed by the wealth of independent evidence regarding snus, switching completely to the studied oral nicotine pouch products can be expected to reduce the relative risks of developing smoking related disease as compared to continued smoking.