A woman holding a Juul e-cigarette while walking in New York, USA, September 27, 2018. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid
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June 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is preparing to order Juul Labs Inc. to withdraw its e-cigarettes from the U.S. market, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Shares of tobacco giant Altria Group Inc (MO.N), which owns a 35% stake in Juul, fell 8% in morning trading after the report said the agency’s decision could come on Wednesday. early.
The verdict would come about two years after the vaping product maker applied for approval to continue selling e-cigarettes in the country, trying to prove that the products offered a net benefit to public health.
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The FDA review will decide whether they are effective in getting smokers to stop smoking and, if so, whether the benefits to smokers outweigh the health harms of new users, including teens, who never smoked.
In October, the FDA allowed Juul’s rival British American Tobacco Plc (BATS.L) to market its Vuse Solo e-cigarettes and tobacco-flavored pods, becoming the first steamer to obtain the authorization from the health regulator. Read more
Some experts, including the Jefferies brokerage, had at one point hoped that Juul would also get FDA approval.
Altria and the FDA did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
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Praveen Paramasivam report in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Devika Syamnath
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