British American Tobacco (BAT) has released a health statement on heated tobacco products and plans to fully enter the US market.

Zhitong App has learned that British American Tobacco (BTI.US), the international tobacco giant, submitted an application in the United States in December last year, making certain important health claims about its key tobacco device, Glo Hyper Pro, a heat-not-burn tobacco product. This is the first time the company has explicitly introduced this alternative smoking product into the critical global market of the United States. British American Tobacco began applying to sell the product in the United States in 2021. However, it has been unclear whether the company plans to sell the product in the United States since then.

Tadeu Marroco, CEO of British American Tobacco, told reporters in an interview on Thursday that the company has submitted a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December. This indicates that the company is considering launching a heat-not-burn tobacco product in the world's largest market for smoking alternatives.

If granted formal approval by the FDA, British American Tobacco will be able to make certain health claims about the product in its U.S. marketing market, such as lower risk compared to smoking or reduced exposure to harmful chemicals.

Previously, the company faced tremendous pressure in the competitive field of heat-not-burn tobacco products, with its competitor Philip Morris International (PM.US) occupying about 70% of the market share in the heat-not-burn tobacco product market. Philip Morris International had previously planned to launch the IQOS heat-not-burn tobacco device in the United States this year.

Heat-not-burn tobacco devices only heat the tobacco instead of burning it, in order to avoid the harmful chemicals produced by burning traditional smoking products. Heat-not-burn tobacco products generate nicotine-containing aerosols by heating real tobacco instead of burning it. This method aims to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals produced because the tobacco does not undergo the traditional combustion process.

Philip Morris is one of the pioneers in the field of heat-not-burn products (HTPs), and its IQOS is one of the most well-known heat-not-burn tobacco products on the market. IQOS uses specially designed tobacco sticks to generate smoke by heating the tobacco instead of burning it, with the aim of reducing the production of harmful chemicals to the human body and the environment.

Philip Morris has long invested significant resources in research and development and market promotion, aiming to shift its business focus from traditional tobacco products to so-called "harm reduction" heat-not-burn products. The company claims that this is part of its long-term strategy to reduce the impact of smoking on public health.