A Study to Determine the Effects of ENDS Flavor Availability on Abstinence Within Smokers

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Determine the Effect of Flavor Availability on Smoking Abstinence With an Electronic Nicotine Delivery System in Primary Combustible Cigarette Smokers

The overall purpose of this study will be to assess primary combustible cigarette users' abstinence from smoking their usual brand of combustible cigarettes at the end of the study, when provided with an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) power unit (2) and varying levels of access to tobacco-flavored, menthol-flavored, mint, or non-tobacco/non-menthol/non-mint-flavored cartridge-based e-liquids (collectively referred to as the investigational product) within their assigned study arm over a three-month (ninety-day) period.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Smoking; Tobacco
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: P2613422; Other: P2615522; Other: P2615122; Other: P2611222; Other: P2615422

Detailed Description

This will be a multi-site, open-label, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the rate of end of study (EOS) smoking abstinence of healthy adult consumers of combustible cigarettes (CC) when provided an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) over a 13-week study period.

Potential participants will be recruited and enrolled at multiple sites across the U.S. They will complete a pre-screening questionnaire to assess their study eligibility approximately 60 days prior to enrollment. Participants who meet pre-screening criteria will provide an informed consent to attend a screening and enrollment visit (SEV), which is a mandatory site visit (MSV) during which participants will be screened, and eligible participants will be randomized to one of the three study arms.

Participants will begin the study with a one-week Trial Period. This Trial Period will allow participants to sample the available flavor(s) within their Study Arm.

All participants will attend MSV on Days 0, 30, 60, and 90 with the option of changing to a different flavor among the available flavors based upon their assigned Study Arm, if applicable. In the first 4-weeks of the study, participants in Study Arms 1 and 2 may also attend optional site visits (OSV) on Days 7, 14, and 21, with the option of changing flavors to a different flavor among the available flavors in their assigned Study Arm. During the 13-week study period, participants will be free to use the ENDS and any other tobacco or nicotine products as desired. The ENDS Version 2 Power Unit technology will measure their puffing topography during use (puff duration and inter-puff interval). Participants will be invited to complete daily, weekly, and monthly surveys, using a mobile application installed on their own smart phones. Surveys will collect data on the number of CC smoked the previous day, current flavor use, product liking, number of cigarette quit attempts, and any other tobacco or nicotine products used, intent to substitute their UB CC for the Study IP and social/environmental factors influencing switching intent. At the conclusion of the study period, all participants will return to the sites for a close out period and will be discharged from the study. Safety and adverse events/experiences (AEs) will be monitored throughout the study via a safety Hotline.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1280
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Montgomery E. Hedgecock; Phone Number: 336-741-3761; Email: montgomery_hedgecock@rjrt.com

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Maitland, Florida, United States, 32751
      • Sago Orlando
  • Georgia
    • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30328
      • Sago Atlanta
  • Missouri
    • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63131
      • Sago St. Louis
  • North Carolina
    • Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, 27612
      • L&E Raleigh
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19103
      • Sago Philadelphia
  • Texas
    • Dallas, Texas, United States, 75254
      • Sago Dallas
    • Houston, Texas, United States, 77027
      • Sago Houston

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Able to read, understand, and are willing to sign an Informed Consent Form (ICF) and complete questionnaires written in English.
• Generally healthy male or female, between 21 and 65 years of age, inclusive, at the time of consent.
• All female (assigned at birth) and those who identify as "intersex" or "unknown candidate" participants who agree to take the pregnancy test on site and receive a negative result, and who affirm at the SEV that they are not pregnant or intending to become pregnant.
• Currently smoke at least 5 CC on smoking days in the past 30 days.
• Smoke CC on 15 or more of the past 30 days.
• Smoked at least 100 factory-made CC in their lifetime prior to the SEV.
• Indicate a willingness to use ENDS.
• Own and regularly use a smartphone (iOS or Android) with internet access to download a study application to access surveys and the capability to receive notifications.
• Agree to participate in the study and to abide by the study restrictions and requirements, as described in the ICF.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Female participants who are pregnant or breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant or start breastfeeding within the next 6 months based on self-report.
• Male participants who self-report they are not willing to use a barrier method of contraception (e.g., a condom with spermicide) or refrain from donating sperm from the signing of the ICF until the end of the study, unless they have undergone a vasectomy or are abstinent from heterosexual intercourse, or their female partner was not able to bear children.
• Female participants who self-report not using adequate methods to prevent pregnancy.
• Persons with pacemakers or other embedded electronic medical devices fitted.
• Participants who self-report having an unstable heart condition, severe hypertension or diabetes.
• Persons who self-report they are allergic/sensitive to cosmetics or fragrances, or any ingredient listed in commercial e-cigarette products.
• Participants who self-report poor physical or mental health.
• Participants who have used ENDS, nicotine pouch, smokeless tobacco (i.e., chewing tobacco, snus, or snuff) products, heated tobacco products, other combustible products and other oral nicotine products (tablets, gums and lozenges) on 5 or more days in the past 30 days.
• Participants who have used a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) product or a prescription drug to help stop smoking (e.g., varenicline, bupropion) in the past 30 days.
• Participants who do not own a smartphone that meets the minimum technical requirements to run the survey app.
• Employee of a company that manufactures tobacco or ENDS products.
• Persons who are personally, have household members, or have close family or friends in litigation with a company that manufactures tobacco or ENDS products.
• Have taken part in a tobacco/nicotine research study in the past 30 days.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Tobacco Flavor; Participants can use a tobacco flavor variant at one nicotine level (5%).	Other: P2613422; Tobacco Flavor
Active Comparator: Tobacco and two flavors of non-tobacco/non-menthol/mint; Participants can choose between tobacco and two non-tobacco/non-menthol/mint flavor variants at one nicotine level (5%).	Other: P2613422; Tobacco Flavor; Other: P2615522; Non-tobacco, Non-menthol/Mint Flavor; Other: P2615122; Non-tobacco, Non-menthol/Mint Flavor
Active Comparator: Tobacco, Mint, and Menthol Flavor; Participants can choose between tobacco, mint, and menthol flavor variants at one nicotine level (5%).	Other: P2613422; Tobacco Flavor; Other: P2611222; Menthol Flavor; Other: P2615422; Mint Flavor

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Past 7-day abstinence from combustible cigarette smoking for the final 7 days of the 13-week study period	The estimate of the risk ratio for self-reporting past 7-day abstinence from CC smoking during the final 7 days of the 13-week study period in (i) Study Arm 1 (tobacco and two NTNM flavors) versus Study Arm 3 (tobacco flavor only); and (ii) Study Arm 2 (tobacco, menthol, and mint flavors) versus Study Arm 3.	13 Weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of participants who completely switched during the final 7 days in Study Arm 1 vs. Study Arm 3 and Study Arm 2 vs. Study Arm 3.	The estimate of the proportion of participants who completely switched from CC smoking to Vuse ENDS during the entire final 7 days of the 13-week study period in Study Arm 1 versus Study Arm 3, and Study Arm 2 versus Study Arm 3. Complete switching is defined as being abstinent from smoking CCs during the final 7-days of the study period, as well as being an adopter of Study IP (defined as ≥ 4 days of Study IP use [verified by puff topography data] for each week during the final two weeks of the study period).	13 weeks
Proportion of final 7-day complete switching between any of the preferred flavor groups (Study Arm 1 and 2).		13 weeks
Proportion of final 7-day abstinence between any of the preferred flavor groups (Study Arm 1 and 2)	"Preferred Flavor" to be defined in the statistical analysis plan (SAP), and each participant's preferred flavor will be used to assign them to their "preferred flavor group", which will be incorporated in subsequent analyses	13 weeks
Risk ratio of 50% reduction in average weekly CPD from baseline to final 7-days of study between Study Arm 1 and Study Arm 3 and Study Arm 2 and Study Arm 3.		13 weeks
Time to first 7-day abstinence by Study Arm and preferred flavor group		13 weeks
Weekly mean percent CPD reductions from baseline by Study Arm and preferred flavor group.		13 weeks
Safety profile of the study IP	An additional endpoint of critical importance is AEs per participant, which will be described in the tables, figures, and listings (TFLs) in addition to the final study report. No inferential testing is planned for AEs.	13 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: RAI Services Company
• Investigators: Study Director: Melissa Tapia, Ph.D., RAIS Company

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 14, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 17, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 21, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 11, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 18, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 20, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 18, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Smoking; Tobacco Use; Tobacco Smoking; Tobacco Harm Reduction
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Smoking; Tobacco Use; Tobacco Smoking
• Other Study ID Numbers: PHI262612

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No