Sweden’s Enorama Looking To Break Into US And Europe’s Crowded NRT Markets
Executive Summary
HBW Insight speaks to Swedish R&D firm Enorama's vice president Annette Agerskov about the company's plans to enter US and European OTC nicotine replacement therapy markets with a new, consumer-friendly nicotine gum.
For consumer healthcare companies looking to break into the UK or US nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) markets the challenge is significant.
On the one hand, the non-prescription NRT category – with OTC products coming in the form of gums, patches and sprays – is dominated by big players like GlaxoSmithKline, Perrigo and Johnson & Johnson, and cheaper private-label alternatives.
According to market researcher IRI, in the US, sales of GSK’s Nicorette gum reached $254m in 2018, up 3.7% from the previous year. Private-label sales for the period were even higher, totaling $283.3m, albeit without change from the previous year. (Also see "GSK Proposes Adding OTC Oral Spray To US Smoking Cessation Sector" - HBW Insight, 16 Aug, 2019.)
On the other hand, trends for e-cigarettes or “vapes” have lured consumers away from the category altogether. A study published last year found that e-cigarettes were almost twice as effective at helping smokers give up tobacco than traditional forms of NRT. (Also see "Using NRT Products In Combination Increases Chances Of Quitting Smoking, Cochrane Review Finds" - HBW Insight, 9 May, 2019.)
While e-cigarettes have been estimated to be around 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco, research also shows that four out of five e-cigarette users who had stopped smoking after one year were still vaping regularly.
For Swedish pharmaceutical company Enorama Pharma AB, the way into the highly competitive European and North American NRT markets is to offer a product that combines the best features of a non-medicated chewing gum with effective, well-established medicinal ingredients.
“Of course, it still tastes of nicotine,” Enorama vice president Annette Agerskov told HBW Insight, speaking about the firm’s new nicotine gum.
“Consumers want this to a certain extent,” she continued. “But Enorama’s nicotine gum also has an intense flavor and long-lasting flavor duration, refreshing crunchiness and attractive appearance”
While the company’s new product has been shown to be as effective and safe as any nicotine gum currently on the market – with a bioequivalence matching that of market leader Nicorette – Agerskov insisted that the both its mint and fruit-mint versions were superior in terms of user enjoyment.
“In sensory profiling, our gum has been shown to have positive characteristics when it comes to the consumer chewing experience and taste,” she explained. “Our gums are experienced as softer than traditional gums, with a taste that is also perceived to be intense and long-lasting.”
Commercial Opportunity
In the US, Enorama has an agreement in place with a partner who plans to sell the firm’s new gum as a private-label product.
Within the European Union, Enorama has recently completed a seven-country strong mutual recognition procedure to get the product approved, with Sweden as the reference member state and France, Germany, England, Spain, Poland, Denmark and Greece as concerned member states.
“What is special about the MRP procedure,” Agerskov said, “is that each country doesn’t have to go through the whole dossier again, like you would with a new local approval.”
“The new country relies on the review performed by the reference country, in this case our home-market, Sweden,” she continued. “This makes the approval process much faster.”
As a business-to-business company, Agerskov said it was not Enorama’s intention to market the gum itself. “We will find partners in the different territories with whom we can work together. Our partners will then distribute, sell and market the product.”
In the UK, for example, where Enorama is currently looking for partners, the marketing authorization will most likely be transferred to the partner company, which will have its own brand name.
While the UK holds the greatest commercial opportunity in Europe, with NRT products mostly available outside pharmacy, in mass-market retail outlets and supermarkets, the other countries on Enorama’s MRP list also hold great potential, she said.
In Nordic countries like Denmark and Sweden, where NRT products are also available outside pharmacy, Agerskov said there is a much higher consumption of these products per capita of NRT products than the rest of Europe.
“In other European countries like Germany, NRT products are not even on display in the pharmacy,” she added. “So you have to go and ask the pharmacist if they will sell you a pack.”
Although consumer awareness is lower in these more regulated countries, the opportunity for market growth is higher, Agerskov argued.
Either way, the potential for a NRT product that taste great and works well is huge, she insisted.