A Petersburg-based tobacco company said its latest study shows that one of its products is effective in helping relieve nicotine cravings for people who are trying to quit smoking.
Star Scientific Inc. said its Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals subsidiary tested its Stonewall dissolvable smokeless tobacco product on 49 cigarette smokers and found that the product was "much more effective" than a placebo in reducing nicotine cravings.
Rock Creek's chief medical officer, Dr. Curtis Wright, said the results give "good reasons" for the company to conduct further testing that may lead it to seek Food and Drug Administration approval to sell Stonewall as a tobacco-cessation product aimed at users of smokeless tobacco as well as smokers.
Paul L. Perito, Star's president and chairman, said in a statement that depending on further test results, "the company expects to move forward with the FDA approval process as soon as practicable."
Star, which was founded as a manufacturer of discount-priced cigarettes, is the developer of a curing system that produces tobacco with reduced levels of suspected cancer-causing chemicals, known as tobacco-specific nitrosamines. Its corporate office is in Petersburg, and it operates a factory in Chase City where it makes smokeless tobacco products.
Star Scientific's stock trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol STSI. Its shares fell 7 cents, or 1.9 percent, to close at $3.70 on Tuesday. To see more of The Progress-Index or to subscribe to the newspaper, visit http://www.progress-index.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Progress-Index, Petersburg, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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