Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register June 22 (Reuters) – The US Food and Drug Administration is preparing to order Juul Labs Inc. to remove its e-cigarettes from the US market, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing insiders. Shares of tobacco giant Altria Group (MO.N), which owns a 35% stake in the vaporizer company, fell 8.5% after the exposure. The decision can be made as early as Wednesday, the report said. Juul has faced intense scrutiny by state regulators, lawmakers and attorneys general over the attractiveness of its nicotine products to teens. Under pressure, the company at the end of 2019 had stopped selling several flavors in the US. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The FDA declined to comment on the report, and Altria and Juul did not respond to requests for comment. “This is clearly a surprise for the market … we would expect Juul to appeal the decision and stay in the market through this process, which will probably take a year or more,” said the Cowen analyst. Vivien Azer. The verdict comes almost two years after Juul applied for approval to continue selling e-cigarettes in the country. The assessment of applications by the FDA was based on whether e-cigarettes were effective in making smokers quit and, if so, whether the benefits for smokers outweighed the harm to the health of new users, including adolescents. In October, the FDA allowed competitor Juul British American Tobacco Plc (BATS.L) to market its Vuse Solo e-cigarettes and tobacco-flavored pods, the first steam regulator approved by the health regulator. read more The estimated fair value of Altria’s investment in Juul was $ 1.6 billion at the end of March, a fraction of the $ 12.8 billion it paid in 2018, as steam suppression has overturned the once-fast-growing industry. “Investing in Juul has always been a mistake, the company was paying the highest dollar for a business that was already clearly on the wrong side of regulators,” said Rae Maile, an analyst at Panmure Gordon. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Praveen Paramasivam and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru. Edited by: Devika Syamnath and Sriraj Kalluvila Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
