New first-of-its-kind nicotine inhaler medicine offers fresh hope to people looking to quit smoking

• Voke uses advanced Vapourless Valve Technology (VVT) to deliver nicotine and is licensed as a medicine by the MHRA as a safer alternative to smoking¹
• Voke is available to purchase directly online now and is suitable for pregnant women who want to attempt to quit¹ 

London, 4 November 2019: Today marks the launch of Voke, an innovative smoking cessation aid, to consumers across the UK. It is licensed as a medicine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a safer alternative to smoking. Voke delivers rapid craving relief without heat, burn or vapour through a new mode of delivery that works in a similar way to an asthma inhaler.

Alan Sutherland, CEO at Kind Consumer Ltd, said; “With over seven million smokers remaining in the UK, it is clear there is still a need for new options that help people in their quitting journey. Voke is a tremendously exciting innovation that is coming on to the market at a perfect time with the potential to make a difference to many lives, first in the UK and then internationally as we roll it out.”

Voke mimics a traditional cigarette through its packaging and administration. However, unlike e-cigarettes it does not rely on heat or burn to disperse the nicotine into the body, and as such there is no vapour. The inhaler technology, known as Vapourless Valve Technology (VVT), enables the low dose of nicotine to be inhaled into the lungs where it is absorbed straight into the arterial system and then delivered to the nicotine receptors in the brain, providing similar craving relief to a traditional cigarette, but without the same harmful effects. Voke differs from other nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), which deliver nicotine either via the buccal mucosa or the skin. Costing the same price as an average pack of cigarettes, a pack of Voke represents a cost-effective smoking cessation option.

Despite government plans to go smoke free in England by 2030,² latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that while there has been a five per cent reduction in smokers aged over 18 in the UK, 14.7 per cent of the population smoked a cigarette in 2018.³ However, nine per cent of smokers surveyed by Action on Smoking and Health listed safety concerns as their main reason for not trying e-cigarettes.⁴

General Practitioner and author, Dr Roger Henderson comments on the launch; “As a doctor, I see many patients who are struggling to quit smoking through existing means, this is particularly pertinent for pregnant women. In some areas of the UK, over one fifth of mums-to-be are still smokers at the time of labour. Something desperately needs to change; having a range of medicines available for these smokers to use to help them in their journey to quit is vital, particularly for pregnant smokers.”

For more information on VOKE

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Notes to editors

About Voke

Voke is a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) licensed as a medicine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for use as a smoking cessation aid. The device uses innovative Vapourless Valve Technology (VVT) (similar to the technology used in asthma inhalers) to deliver low-dose nicotine directly into the arterial system, which is different to other forms of NRT. Unlike e-cigarettes there is no heat, burn or vapour. The product is the result of 12 years of innovation and research to refine the technology and to bring it to market. Voke is available to purchase online directly at www.voke.com from late October.

Product Information: Voke 0.45mg Inhaler Presentation: Each charge contains approx. 0.45 mg nicotine equivalent to a delivered dose of 0.43 mg nicotine.  Each pack provides approx. 20 charges of the stick device. Voke is indicated to aid smokers (18+) wishing to quit or reduce prior to quitting, to assist smokers who are unwilling or unable to smoke, and as a safer alternative to smoking for smokers and those around them. Voke is indicated in pregnant and lactating women making a quit attempt. Information about this product, including adverse reactions, precautions, contra-indications and method of use can be found at www.voke.com. Adverse events should be reported. Reporting forms and information can be found at www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard or search for MHRA Yellow card in the Google Play or Apple App Store. Adverse events should also be reported to Kind Consumer Ltd. Legal classification: GSL. Licence holder: Kind Consumer Ltd. 79 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5AR. Date of revision of text: October 2019.

For more information on VOKE visit www.voke.com.

About Kind Consumer

Kind Consumer is a healthcare research and development company focused on inhalation technologies. The company was founded by inventor and entrepreneur Alex Hearn in 2006 spurred on by a desire to address his parents’ smoking habit. Headquartered in Central London, Kind Consumer has attracted investment from a number of sources including an investment trust. Voke is the company’s first product, which has been designed to combat the significant health problems of tobacco harm and tobacco dependence. For more information about Kind Consumer, visit www.kindconsumer.com.

Contact

Sally Donovan-Smith

Cello Health Communications

CommsCA-Voke@ch-corporateAffairs.co.uk

+44 (0) 7780 464 331

References

1. Voke 0.45 mg Inhaler - Summary of Product Characteristics.
2. Department of Health and Social Care. Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s. Consultation document (2019).
3. Office for National Statistics. Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2018. 1-16 (2019).
4. Action on Smoking and Health. Use of e-cigarettes (vaporisers) among adults in Great Britain. (2019).
5. NHS. Statistics on Women’s Smoking Status at Time of Delivery, England - Quarter 3, 2017-18 - NHS Digital. (2018).