Juul Labs said on Thursday the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the sale of its e-cigarette device and refill cartridges in tobacco and menthol flavors, after years of struggle with heightened regulatory scrutiny.
The decision will offer a new lease of life to the vape maker, which came close to filing for bankruptcy following a federal ban in 2022.
The FDA’s 2022 ban on Juul’s four varieties of tobacco and menthol-flavored pods and the e-cigarette device was stayed a month later after an appeal by the company.
Thursday’s decision followed rigorous evaluation of the data provided by Juul, based on which FDA decided that a marketing approval for the system was “appropriate for the protection of public health”, the company said in a statement.
The decision follows wider expectations in the industry that the Trump Administration would ease regulatory hurdles for launching new vapes and other smoking alternatives.
