Letter submitted by Professor Riccardo Polosa (ECG0106)

On 9 January 2018, I gave evidence at an oral hearing before the Science and Technology Committee (Commons) as part of its inquiry into e-cigarettes. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm that the statements I made to the Committee reflect my true and complete professional opinions on the relevant issues.

During the hearing, I was asked whether I or any of my research had ever received any funding from a tobacco company or from a seller of e-cigarettes and to confirm in writing details of any such funding.

I can confirm that of the more than 50 published studies on e-cigarettes and smoking cessation of which I am a named author, only one concerns research for which I received funding from a tobacco company. The funding was received following a successful application to the Philip Morris External Research Program in 2003. The relevant research project was intended to demonstrate a reduction in the risk of thrombosis in former smokers by analysing various circulating markers of endothelial and platelet activation of various time-points following smoking cessation. The research showed that the risk of thrombosis was indeed reduced in about 200 smokers after smoking cessation and was published in a peer-reviewed journal under the following citation: Caponnetto P, Russo C, Di Maria A, Morjaria JB, Barton S, Guarino F, Basile E, Proiti M, Bertino G, Cacciola RR, Polosa R. Circulating endothelial-coagulative activation markers after smoking cessation: a 12-month observational study. Eur J Clin Invest. 2011; 41:616-26. The Report itself expressly acknowledges the source of the funding, and I am led to believe that the details of the funding and application are publicly available as part of the database of tobacco company documents hosted by the UCSF Library and Centre for Knowledge Management. In addition, through Health Diplomats—a company that provides harm minimisation solutions to the alcohol, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, tobacco and nicotine industries—I am currently providing consultancy services to subsidiaries of British American Tobacco that are working on researching, developing and commercialising non-combustible nicotine and tobacco products, including acting as Medical Contact for 3 BAT-funded clinical trials in respect of its e-cigarette and tobacco heating devices and their potential for harm reduction. My primary role as a Medical Contact in these studies is to help with the design of the clinical research protocol, to provide guidance on any medical and safety issues related to study participants, and to oversee with the analysis and interpretation of clinical trial data and the reporting of clinical trial results. To the best of my knowledge Health Diplomats provides no services in the area of combustible tobacco products. Previously, I have also received funding from the Arbi Group Srl, an Italian e-cigarette distributor in respect of the following study: Caponnetto P, Campagna D, Cibella F, Morjaria JB, Caruso M, Russo C, Polosa R. EffiCiency and Safety of an eLectronic cigAreTte (ECLAT) as tobacco cigarettes substitute: a prospective 12-month randomized control design study. PLoS One. 2013; 8(6):e66317. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0066317. Again, the study discloses the source of the funding. I have been carrying out consultancy work both for them and also, on occasion, for ECITA (the Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association, in the UK). Consultancy work for Arbi Group Srl ended in 2013.

By way of further disclosure, I consider it appropriate to mention that I have also received support grants from a number of drug manufacturers including CV Therapeutics, Neurosearch A/S, Sandoz, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis and Boehringer-Ingelheim, as well as lecture fees and research funding from manufacturers of smoking cessation medications, including Pfizer and GSK. I am also currently involved in the following pro bono activities: Scientific Advisor to LIAF, Lega Italiana Anti Fumo (Italian acronym for Italian Anti Smoking League) and to The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives (CASAA); Chair of the European Technical Committee for standardization on “Requirements and test methods for emissions of electronic cigarettes” (CEN/TC 437; WG4); and have provided scientific guidance to several governmental authorities including Cancer Research UK, the US Food and Drug Agency, the Departments of Health for the Italian and French Governments, as well as to the All Parliamentary Party Group on E-cigarettes in the UK.

For the avoidance of doubt, I confirm that the views I expressed to the Committee were my own, and I did not participate on behalf of any tobacco or e-cigarette manufacturer.

February 2018