By Sabela Ojea


Altria Group has submitted a premarket tobacco product application for its on! Plus oral nicotine pouches to the Food and Drug Administration.

The company said on Wednesday its wholly owned subsidiary Helix Innovations submitted the application for three on! Plus varieties, tobacco, mint and wintergreen, the company said.

Altria, the biggest cigarette company in the U.S., said the nicotine pouches are used by those who chew and smoke tobacco. The pouches are also larger than those of the leading U.S. tobacco-derived nicotine brands, the company said.

The maker of Marlboro cigarettes in 2019 entered the growing oral nicotine products market after signing a deal with Burger Söhne to acquire an 80% ownership stake in some companies that commercialized on! products. In December 2020 and April 2021, Altria subsidiaries concluded transactions to buy the remaining 20% stake of the global on! business for about $250 million.

In the latest quarter, Altria's oral tobacco revenue increased 3.7% to $651 million.

The news comes after the maker of Zyn nicotine pouches, acquired by Philip Morris International in 2022, suspended nationwide sales on its U.S. website as local officials in Washington, D.C. investigate whether the company is in compliance with the district's ban on the sale of flavored products.


Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-26-24 1746ET