R&D Talk to CAC - May 1987
A. L. Heard
This paper considers the Group's current
allocation of
resources across broad areas of tobacco R&D.
Following the major changes in R&D organisation
initiated two
years ago, we have six R&D centres all of which
now classify
project activity in a standardised way. This
enables us to
estimate quite reliably the relative effort
allocated to various
sub-groups of R&D. We also have details of
external contract
research undertaken for the six centres.
R&D activity across the six centres costs ;E30 m
and the
external supported research costs an additional
91.5 m. Their
total is allocated as follows:
OVERHEAD SLIDE I ; DISTRIBUTION OF GROUP R&D
EFFORT
Classification Short-medium Long term
term focussed "uncharted"
RSD Research
R&D aimed at Quality 65% 16%
Improvement, Cost
Reduction and
Innovative Products
IV
R&D In response to S&H 12% 7Z
related (legulatory)
Issues
General consensus suggests that cigarette
development will be
evolutionary rather than revolutionary and that we
can reasonably
plan 5 years ahead. Consequently, short-medium
term research
spans this period, but of course, is effectively
updated annually
(a "rolling" 5 year programme) in the light of
Group management
perception of what either the customer or the
Regulatory
Authorities will require.
This presentation will focus on the type of work
falling into
categories I-IV and the rationale for the work.
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Category I
The Group has a major effort in this sector. It is
highly
market-oriented and projects are selected either
to increase
market share or to improve margins. Across the
Group we ha7e a
particularly concerted effort on smoke quality
improvement vith
technical improvements rapidly being transferred
to brands, for
instance in USA. Production of satisfactory low
density
cigarettes in terms of both physical and
subjective properties is
key to many markets.
Development of our own novel expansion process for
tobacco and a
completely new reconstitution process for use of
tobacco waste
will generate very significant cost savings for
the Group.
In terms of ?roduct innovation we have been
successful with
Barclay and, so far, Capri (the ultra-slim) and we
are cons:antly
searching for new products.
Category II
The need for new 'building bricks' for extending
our capability to
meet quality demands etc. is clearly recognised.
In this
"seed-corn" area we have work directed towards
understanding and
modifying the smoke aerosol properties, a
fundamental route to
taste charac:er. The effective release and
transfer of nicotine
from tobacco to the smoker is a subject of our
longer term
research. This important compound contributes not
only to the
pharmacological sensations but also to taste and
flavour. The
search for new and more effective flavour
materials remains key to
our long ter2 needs.
Items I and :I have been dealt
need more careful consideration
of confusion.
Category III
with briefly. The next two items
since they are a potential source
The evolutioaary development of the cigarette in
response :o S&H
issues will be guided by such Regulatory
Authorities as the ISC or
the US Surgeon General's Report. We believe our
role is to be
able to have meaningful interaction with such
bodies, and, in
practical terms, to be ready to provide
appropriate produc:s.
Thus we must stay closely in touch with such
bodies and to some
extent anticipate their requirements.
Our work in this category is almost entirely
conducted internally
since apart from a competence in biological
testing, it largely
calls for research on the cigarette itself -
selection and
processing of blend, construction of cigarette
including paper,
and additives, combustion, filtration and
ventilation, and we
believe that BAT Group has the appropriate
expertise 'in-house'.
If we are deficient in this area we have a serious
problem.
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Some examples of the in-house projects are:
Reduction of specific 'noxae'
Of the 4,000 or more chemicals identified in
tobacco smoke, there
are hundreds that, if taken in isolation and in
sufficiently high
dose, can produce toxic reaction in humans. Which,
if any, have
serious consequences in smoke with its complex
physical structure
and its various generally low concentrations, is a
truly open
question. The two key Regulatory Authorities - the
Royal College
of Physicians and the US Surgeon General each have
commented on
relative importance of groups of chemicals, but in
most cases,
they call for further research.
Our approach has been two-fold. Firstly, we have
over 20 years
explored means of controlling the formation or
selective removal
of those chemicals generally classed as important
by Authorities,
viz nitrosamines, aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols,
aldehydes etc.
OVERHEAD SLIDE : OTHER NOXAE
The complex list of possible toxic components in
smoke appears to
present as much confusion to the Authorities as to
the Industry
when trying to prioritise. We are aware that at a
recent US
Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists a
scheme was
outlined for classifying noxae on the basis of
their Threshold
Limit Values (defined as the concentration for a
normal 8-hour
working day/40 hour working week to which nearly
all workers may
be repeatedly exposed, day after day, without
adverse effect).
This may form a sensible basis for prioritising
compounds.
A quite different approach to reducing those
components that
concern the Authorities is to go for blanket
reduction through
major smoke modifications rather than aim at at
selective
reduction. The first approach of lowering all
deliveries (tar,
nic, etc.) by filtration/ventilation appears to
have run into
controversy due to arguments about compensation.
Current pointers suggest that the Regulatory
Authorities will
encourage a move to cigarettes with lower tar but
normal nicotine
deliveries.
OVERHEAD SLIDE 3: POSSIBLE TRENDS IN CIGARETTE
DELIVERY MODIFICATION
We have research projects exploring the
feasibility of making low
tar/high nicotine products. One way depends on
breeding tobacco
with unusually high nicotine levels. One
opportunity for
establishing quite radically different leaf is
through plant
biotechnology for which we are well placed in BAT
Industries.
cc
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Finally, on the subject of smoke toxicity based on
likely
Regulatory standards, it should be mentioned that
in our search
for factors affecting the biological activity of
smoke one of the
most important findings is that activity is
markedly dependent on
cigarette diameter. Capri, the ultra-slim
cigarette, recently
launched in US by B&W, with a circumference of 17
mm in contrast
with the normal 24-25 mm, has a much reduced
activity based on the
Ames test for mutagenicity. Whilst we must
remember that the
meaning of this test in relation to human
toxicology is highly
questionable, based as it is on the fate of
bacteria in a
laboratory test condition, the result is important
in the event
that biological indices become mandatory.
(Interestingly a
similar result was found many years ago in
mouse-skin painting
tests, a predictor of tumorigenicity).
OVERHEAD SLIDE 4: AMES RESULTS V. CIRCUMFERENCE
Passive Smoking
Another issue calling for short term action in
response to clear
targets is passive smoking. Dr. Thornton has
covered the main BAT
thrust of challenging poor epidemiology. We also
have important
lines of in-house research on this topic.
The first is largely of an information-gatherLng
nature and
focusses on reliable measurement of ambient smoke
concentration
both for particulate matter and for specific
chemical components.
At Southampton we have two environmental rooms
that are fully
controlled in terms of air temperature and
humidity and which can
have complete atmosphere changes at pre-set
frequency
(representing different levels of room
ventilation). There are
also sampling ports for monitoring chemicals or
for subjective
rating of smell, eye irritation and so on.
Quite separately, we have looked at smoke
concentrations in some
typical environments, using some ingenious
surreptitious
atmospheric monitoring devices. Results are:
OVERHEAD SLIDES:5
CONVENTRATIONS, IN FAMILIAR ENVIRONMENTS
The only satisfactory known means of reducing
overall sidestream
yield is to reduce the total weight of tobacco
burned. Once again
Capri offers an interesting opportunity since a
simple calculation
suggests a 35-40% reduction in sidestream relative
to conventional
84 mm cigarettes. For general purposes, where slim
cigarettes
cannot yet be seen as the answer, increased
expanded tobacco
inclusion offers the next best direction providing
puff number can
be maintained.
00
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Category IV
Thus far we have considered product evolution in
response to S&H
issues. Such activities have reasonably clear
targets, are
practical and have some reasonable probability of
success - Judged
in terms of keeping abreast of Regulatory
requirements.
The key question is whether there exists any more
fundamental
approaches to our major S&H issues? What technical
avenues exist
for products will not be embroiled in the S&H
controversies, of
which causality between cigarette smoking and
specific diseases is
key?
Scientific information currently available
suggests few research
directions to follow in terms of cigarette
modification. Until we
know that we have a problem and what it is, how
can we react in a
rational manner? If, for instance, changes to
minor components of
smoke were firmly believed by scientific and
medical opinion to be
the route to an acceptable cigarette, they would
apply strong
pressure on the Industry and we would willingly
respond. This is
not the case.
In our view, the most appropriate fundamental
research on S&H
issues approach is to monitor all publications on
Smoking & Health
and where information is incomplete, to support
further research
at external centres of excellence. Much of it is
focussed on
unravelling mechanisms of disease and the role of
various
chemicals in these processes.
External Research
Molecular biology provides the modern medical
research worker with
far more precise tools than the crude techniques,
mainly limited
to animal studies, of the past. The present-day
medical
researcher is beginning to study changes taking
place at the
fundamental cell level and to track the changes
including the
incidence of abnormalities that are taking place
within the cell.
Not only can we expect medical research to throw
light on the
interaction of human cell material with specific
chemicals but
also to show at the molecular level the reason for
so-called
genetic predisposition of individuals to various
diseases.
OVERHEAD SLIDE 6 : HUMAN GENETICS, R.L. WHITE
It is essential that we are throughly appraised of
such research.
Let's look at some examples of where we sponsor
research or have
consulting arrangements with key workers in these
areas.
OVERHEAD SLIDE 7+8: MECHANISMS OF DISEASE
\Z
0 C
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Such work may have a variety of outcomes. It may
1. exonerate smoking from key disease processes
2. point to various components of smoke which are
undesirable
3. indicate individuals genetically disposed to
disease
4. provide a cure or prevention of such diseases.
Additionally such work should lead to bioassays
that have true
relevance to human disease mechanisms.
The final leg of the Group-supported long term
research towards
increasing the acceptability of smoking concerns
the so-called
'benefits of smoking'. In this area there is
little point in
doing 'in-house' research since credibility will
be low. In any
event the techniques appropriate to studies of
this kind will be
located in universities or institutes since they
will be either
medical or psychological. The 'benefit' most
widely publicised is
in relation to Parkinson's disease where smoking
is associated
with a reduction in incidence. We are now pursuing
interesting
developments in relation to ulcerative cholitis
and Alzheimer's
disease, both of which also indicate signs of
"benefits".
Summary
In summary, we have 802 of our E31.5 m expenditure
on R&D
aimed at market-oriented goals. This is generating
some visible
achievements for the Group and I believe, at this
level of effort,
we are competitive.
On the S&H issues, I distinguish between
activities which are
essential in response to those currently held
scientific views
that determine Regulatory requirements and
influence consumer
habits. Specific chemical components and simple
biological test
standards fall into this category. This accounts
for 12% of our
expenditure.
Purposeful long term and truly fundamental
research on S&H, in
my view, can only be done in collaboration with
medical
scientists/molecular biologists. The majority of
our 7%
expenditure in this area is directed at the
mechanisms of
diseases. In my view this is appropriate currently
but may need
to be escalated if any interesting leads are
identified.
I hope this talk has given the impression of a
business-like
approach to R&D, clo sely managed an d
cost-effective. Of course,
our scientists have "brainstorming" discussions
and will
occasionally advance revolutionary ideas for
radical product
modification. One s uch example is based on a
nicotine-carrying,
synthetic aerosol. So far there is little belief
that this avenue
really represents a realistic direc tion to
pursue.
J,-
A.L. Heardl T
t
10 th Aprill-r 87
BATCo document for Province of BritiSh Columbia 28
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