Nicotine Hits Smokers’ Bloodstreams In Seconds – Clock On Latest US NRT Approval Is At 17 Years

Gum, lozenge and patch NRTs available in US need as much as 30 minutes to deliver nicotine to users’ bloodstreams. Cigarettes are "purposely designed because of inhalation of smoke to deliver nicotine to the receptors in the brain in less than 10 seconds,” says former FDA tobacco programs chief Mitch Zeller.

Tobacco cigarettes deliver nicotine to the bloodstream within seconds. Products indicated for smoking cessation currently available in the US need as much as 90 seconds to deliver nicotine to a user’s system.

“When was the last time that there was a there was true innovation in this space?” says Mitch Zeller, a...