An FDA advisory committee on Thursday recommended the agency reject a bid by Philip Morris International to market a smokeless tobacco stick called IQOS in the United States as safer than traditional cigarettes. IQOS is an electronic penlike device that heats tobacco sticks but does not burn them. It releases nicotine vapor, which the company says is less hazardous than smoke. Philip Morris says the product, which contains tobacco as well as nicotine, offers a more natural smoking experience for the smoker than e-cigarettes. It is currently sold in 30 countries.
The advisory committee considered the proposal to sell the product under the agency's new "modified risk" category, created by Congress with the passage of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
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