The full results of the year-long study show that smokers who switched exclusively to glo, the most innovative product in BAT’s portfolio that heats rather than burns tobacco, achieved significant and sustained improvements in several measures of smoking potential. the risk associated with the early development of certain conditions (including lung disease, cancer and cardiovascular disease) compared to those who continued to smoke.

The full results, published in the international journal Internal and Emergency Medicine*, complement the results of beneficial effects reported at three and six months in the same study. These improvements were sustained over the twelve month study period and add to the strong scientific evidence supporting glo as a less risky* alternative for adult smokers who would otherwise not have quit**/***.

“There are results of this study the most important data ever obtained on glo and the tobacco heating product category (THP – products for heating tobacco), in general. This research, based on specific real-world data, allows us to evaluate the changes experienced by adult smokers who switch to glo exclusively by assessing early indicators of potential risk associated with the development of certain conditions. This provides much-needed new evidence of the scale of change and duration of effect that a full switch to glo can have, reinforcing glo’s potential as a low-risk product*.

“Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to this study. This is another important step forward on our way to a better future.”stated Dr. David O’Reilly, BAT’s Director of Scientific Research.

Based on the assessment of early signs of the disease, smokers who completely switched to glo instead of continuing to smoke recorded:

• A significant and persistent decrease in the level of a biomarker that can potentially cause DNA damage associated with lung cancer.
• A significant and long-lasting decrease in the number of white blood cells, a marker of inflammation associated with the early development of cardiovascular disease and other diseases associated with smoking.
• Steady increase in the level of HDL cholesterol is associated with a decrease in the development of cardiovascular diseases.
• Significant and sustained improvement in lung health score (FeNO).
• Significant and sustained improvement in a key measure of oxidative stress, a process implicated in several smoking-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

The new data add to the results of other recent studies on glo****, which concluded that “based on the accumulated scientific evidence, glo is a low-impact product compared to tobacco-burning cigarettes and is reasonably believed to reduce the risk development of smoking-related diseases; thus supporting the conclusion that smokers who fully switch to using a glo product that heats tobacco will have a reduced relative risk of developing smoking-related diseases compared to those who continue to smoke.”

About this study

Participants in this controlled one-year study were smokers from the UK, aged 23 to 55 years, in good general health. Smokers who did not intend to quit were randomly assigned to comparison groups including those who continued to smoke and others who only used glo; smokers who indicated they wanted to quit received nicotine replacement therapy and access to a smoking cessation counselor. A group of people who had never smoked was also included in the study to serve as a control group, and they did not use tobacco products or nicotine.

This study was designed to investigate the risk reduction potential of glo when used in a real-world, rather than clinical, setting. Participants attended monthly medical visits during which blood, urine and other tests were collected. These samples were tested for “biomarkers of exposure” (to certain harmful substances in cigarette smoke) and “biomarkers of potential risk”.

In addition to ensuring that quitters or glo switchers were not concurrently using cigarettes, groups of glo users and quitters were tested for the CEVal biomarker, which can indicate whether they had smoked cigarettes. Those who tested positive continued to participate in the study, and the final results were divided into the total population and a CEVal-compliant sub-segment, ensuring that the results accurately reflected the impact of full transition.

Notes:

* Gale N, McEwan M, Hardie G et al (2022) Changes in biomarkers of exposure and biomarkers of potential harm after 360 days in smokers who either continue to smoke, switch to a tobacco heating product or quit smoking. Internal Emerg Med. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-022-03062-1

** Gale N, McEwan M, Camacho OM et al (2021) Changes in biomarkers of exposure when switching from a regular cigarette to a tobacco heating product: a randomized controlled outpatient trial. Nicotine Tob Res 23(3):584–591. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaa135

*** Gale N, McEwan M, Camacho OM et al (2021) Biomarker changes after 180 days of use of tobacco heating products: a randomized trial. Intern Emerg Med 16:2201–2212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-021-02798-6

**** Goodall S, Gale N, Thorne D, Hadley S, Prasad K, Gilmour I, Miazzi F, Proctor C, (2022) Evaluation of behavioural, chemical, toxicological and clinical studies of a heated tobacco product and the potential for transition from baseline dataset to new product iterations. Toxicology reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2022.06.014.

Article supported by British American Tobacco

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