Azim Chowdhury Interviewed for “Accelerating The End of Smoking” Initiative

Keller and Heckman Partner Azim Chowdhury was recently interviewed for the Russell Burnett Research and Consultancy’s “Accelerating The End of Smoking” (ATEOS) initiative. The series brings together leading voices from public health, healthcare, tobacco control, tobacco harm reduction, as well as tobacco and nicotine product science and regulation to explore strategies for reducing smoking rates and advancing public health outcomes. 

Azim participated in two video discussions: (1) streamlining the Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) review process for e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, and (2) how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluates the benefits of flavored e-cigarettes for adults who smoke.

In the first discussion, Azim explains why the FDA’s PMTA review process for new tobacco products has fallen short over the past decade, examines the impact of the agency’s substantial application backlog, and shares his perspective on how the FDA could implement a more efficient, transparent, and predictable review framework. He also discusses the potential benefits of establishing product standards and creating a process that offers applicants a meaningful pathway to authorization. View the full video here.

In the second discussion, Azim outlines how the FDA currently evaluates applications for flavored e-cigarette products submitted through the PMTA pathway and discusses how the agency may reconsider its approach to better balance youth-protection concerns with providing adults who smoke access to a broader range of potentially less harmful alternatives to combustible cigarettes. View the full video here.