AURORA | Phillip Morris officials say 500 local jobs will be part of a $600 million nicotine pouch manufacturing facility expected to open in Aurora next year.
Project backers Philip Morris International say project includes a “state of the art” facility to produce Swedish Match Zyn nicotine pouches, boasting a $550 million annual impact and providing for an additional 1,000 “indirect” jobs in addition to positions at the facility, according to Philip Morris spokespersons.
Gov. Jared Polis, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and other local elected officials are expected to speak at a public announcement in Aurora today.
“PMI and its U.S. affiliates are accelerating their mission to move adults who smoke away from cigarettes in the U.S. by investing in new U.S. manufacturing capacity to meet the increasing demand for nicotine options that are scientifically substantiated as better alternatives,” said PMI Americas President and U.S. CEO Stacey Kennedy. “We believe Colorado is likeminded in its commitment to innovation, economic opportunity and public health, and we’re eager to work with the state and its talented workforce as we expand our U.S. manufacturing presence.”
Plans call for breaking ground on the new facility later this year and to begin preliminary operations by the end of 2025, with regular production starting in 2026.
Officials said that about 5,000 construction jobs are expected to be created.
Philip Morris first entered the U.S. nicotine patch market following its acquisition of Swedish Match in late 2022.
Swedish Match’s Zyn oral nicotine pouches have been on the market in the U.S. for more than a decade. Company officials said the pouches are designed for adult consumers who smoke, want to quit, but want to continue using nicotine.
Philip Morris also announced a commitment to Colorado veterans with a donation of $350,000 over two years to the Rocky Mountain Veterans Advocacy Project. The project is a Colorado-based law clinic to help veterans in need access the benefits and care they’ve earned through their service.
Company officials said affiliates also plan to provide the Veterans Community Project that provides veterans’ housing with $100,000. The funds are targeted to benefit Colorado Gold Star Mothers, the Colorado Freedom Memorial, Hire Heroes USA directed to Colorado homeless veterans hiring, Soldier’s Angels for food provisions and Musicians on Call for Veterans Administration hospital visits.
Phillip Morris will also provide $250,000 a year for the next eight years to the flexible housing fund that benefits residents of Adams County and the City of Aurora by supporting transitional housing, officials said.
Zyn in the news
Philip Morris “Zyn” has been making big headlines, sparking debate about whether new nicotine-based alternatives intended for adults may be catching on with underage teens and adolescents.
Zyn is an oral pouch that contains nicotine powder and flavorings like mint, coffee and citrus. The pouches are the fastest-growing segment of the tobacco industry, which has struggled for decades to replace falling cigarette sales.
Zyn is marketed by Philip Morris International to adult tobacco users. Although it doesn’t contain tobacco, U.S. regulators still treat it as a tobacco product.
Competitors sell similar products. Altria, for instance, sells its own flavored pouches called On.
Users stick them between their lip and gums, where they slowly release low levels of nicotine that are absorbed into the bloodstream. Because pouches generally don’t contain tobacco, there’s no spitting, unlike older products like chew and snuff.
Philip Morris representatives say the nicotine-only formulation is part of Zyn’s appeal.
“People can be reluctant to move into an oral tobacco product if they view it as similar to traditional chewing tobacco,” company spokesman Corey Henry said. “Consumer acceptability is a big part of Zyn.”
All tobacco products carry serious health risks, medical experts say. Cigarettes are widely understood as the most harmful, increasing the likelihood of cancer, heart disease and lung problems. Chewing tobacco is linked to mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss.
But in the last decade or so, researchers and health regulators have begun to acknowledge different levels of harm among different tobacco products.
In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration said a different oral tobacco product, called snus, contains lower cancer-causing chemicals than cigarettes and could benefit smokers who switch.
Snus are similar to nicotine pouches like Zyn, except that they contain fermented tobacco. Studies from Sweden and other places where they are popular have shown lower rates of lung cancer and related diseases compared with other European countries where smoking is more prevalent.
There’s little research on the long-term effects of nicotine pouches, but many researchers expect they will show similarly low rates of carcinogens and other toxic components.
Still, that doesn’t mean they’re safe, medical experts say. A study last year found Zyn and similar products contain low levels of harmful substances such as ammonia and formaldehyde.
Currently FDA officials are letting Zyn stay on the market while they review Philip Morris’ marketing application, which was submitted in 2020.
To win FDA authorization, companies generally must show that their products will reduce disease among adult tobacco users without attracting underage use by teens and adolescents.
Zyn doesn’t, so far, appear to be popular with youth, according to the latest federal data. Only 1.5% of high school and middle schoolers reported using nicotine pouches when surveyed last year. That’s well below the roughly 10% who used electronic cigarettes.
But anti-tobacco advocates point to worrying signs: videos of young people popping the pouches have racked up millions of views on social media in recent months. A similar surge of online activity preceded the rise of Juul, the sleek e-cigarette widely blamed for triggering a spike in teen vaping in the years before COVID-19.
Concerns about Zyn going viral have sparked debate among health experts, parents and even politicians.
The FDA says it’s monitoring underage use of Zyn and other pouches and will take action, if necessary.
Currently only a handful of products are FDA-approved to help with quitting smoking, including medications, nicotine gums and patches. Some researchers point out that Zyn works similarly to some of those products — gradually delivering nicotine that reduces cravings.
But early research suggests Zyn and other pouches may not be enough to help smokers quit.
Ohio State University researchers recently found it took smokers 30 minutes to an hour to get enough nicotine from Zyn to relieve their cravings. With cigarettes, smokers achieved the same nicotine levels — and relief — in five minutes.
For now, Philip Morris is focused on obtaining FDA authorization to stay on the market, and eventually it has said it could seek a reduced-risk designation similar to snus. But no tobacco company — Philip Morris included — has ever asked the FDA to approve their products to help smokers quit completely.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.