Juul hires Washington Insiders as the battle moves to the capital
Juul hires Washington Insiders as the battle moves to the capital
Juul Labs Inc. has hired a former White House adviser to join its leadership team, one of several former federal officials or regulators added this year by the start of e-cigarette while trying to avoid a potentially ruinous government crackdown on its products.
The increasing use by teens of the company's thin electronic cigarette devices has sparked a debate in Washington and in neighborhoods across the country about whether Juul is hook more children to nicotine That is helping adult smokers to quit smoking. The Food and Drug Administration has threatened Prohibit flavored liquids. which represent the bulk of Juul's sales.
The San Francisco company, which was valued at $ 16 billion When he completed a round of financing that raised $ 1.25 billion this summer, he has increased his lobbying efforts and achieved government incursions.
This week, the company hired Josh Raffel, a former communications officer in the White House who worked closely with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Mr. Raffel developed a reputation there as a key crisis manager. Your portfolio it included domestic problems, such as changes in fiscal legislation, as well as foreign policy, including relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mr. Raffel, who began Wednesday, will serve as vice president of corporate communications and will not lobby for the company. Others hired this year include Jerry Masoudi, a former senior adviser to the FDA, as its chief legal officer; Spencer Morrison, FDA veteran for 30 years, as director of risk mitigation and compliance; and Jim Esquea, former deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, as the principal internal lobbyist.
In addition to hiring former government officials, the e-cigarette company has also followed a traditional Washington playbook, hired three lobbyists, conducted a press campaign and met with lawmakers in recent months.
FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb has accused electronic cigarette makers, including Juul, of treating growing use among teens "as a public relations challenge." Last week, the FDA conducted a surprise inspection from the corporate headquarters of Juul.
"There is an elaborate lobbying campaign in Washington that pushes back the actions we are taking," Dr. Gottlieb said in a recent interview. The message the commissioner has heard from Juul's allies is that "the data does not warrant aggressive action at this time, I do not agree," said Dr. Gottlieb, who plans to meet with Juul's representatives soon.
Juul says his products are meant to help adult cigarette smokers switch to a less harmful alternative. The company says it aims to reduce the diseases and deaths caused by cigarettes, which kill 480,000 Americans each year. Each Juul liquid capsule contains as much nicotine as a pack of traditional cigarettes.
"We completely agree that actions are necessary and we are committed to being part of the solution," said a company spokesman. "Juul firmly believes that any amount of child use is too much." We will continue to work with the FDA, lawmakers, public health advocates and others to keep Juul out of reach of young people.
In meetings with US senators, Juul presented the results of his first behavioral study that he said showed that more than 50% of cigarette smokers switched to Juul after 90 days of use. The company also says it is developing a Bluetooth version of its device that, together with an application, would allow users to reduce the amount of nicotine that is supplied.
According to a Wells Fargo analysis of Nielsen data, sales of electronic cigarettes are expected to almost double this year compared to 2017 and Juul represents 73% of the US market estimated at 2.5 billion dollars. That does not include online sales. According to analysts, the flavors that could be eliminated, all but traditional tobacco and menthol, account for more than 90% of Juul's retail sales.
Juul has been courting at least one other person in President Trump's orbit: former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a former friend of the president. The company said it is still in talks with Mr. Christie and other influential figures, including military leaders and public health experts, while considering establishing a new advisory board. Mr. Christie could not be contacted immediately for comment.
Since the outbreak of the protest for its marketing in social networks and popularity among teenagersJuul has modified the names of their flavors and introduced a less nicotine version of their liquids. He also added age verification tools on his website and cleaned his social networks of images with people under 35.
Juul opened an office in Washington at the end of July and has hired three lobbying firms: Sims Strategies, W Strategies and S-3 Group. Juul had previously contacted larger firms, but they had existing relationships with large tobacco companies or public health groups, according to a person familiar with the subject.
The company launched a $ 30 million advertising campaign in June that it said was a public education effort aimed at parents of teenagers. At the same time, the company has launched ads at service stations, in newspapers and on the radio promoting Juul as a tool to stop smoking.
On Thursday, a full-page ad in the Washington Post showed a former cigarette smoker with salt and pepper beard and quote: "I wish I had found him a long time ago."
-Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.
Write to Jennifer Maloney in jennifer.maloney@wsj.com
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