appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . may 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message kind consumer ltd kind consumer or kind trading name kind consumer ltd type private company industry pharmaceuticals medical devices medical research and development founded london united kingdom 2006 founder alex hearn headquarters london england uk key people paul triniman chief executive officer alex hearn founder chief product officer dr chris moyses chief medical officer products voke number of employees 15 website http www.kindconsumer.com kind consumer limited is a uk based healthcare company which focuses on developing novel inhalation technologies to address tobacco harm reduction . the company was founded in 2006 by alex hearn a british inventor and entrepreneur based in london 1 2 3 contents 1 inhaled nicotine delivery 1.1 product development rationale 1.2 existing regulatory approved nicotine delivery products 2 voke 3 notable investors 4 references inhaled nicotine delivery edit product development rationale edit the development rationale of inhaler technology is to provide a novel format of nicotine delivery 4 which offers smokers a more acceptable alternative to the tobacco cigarette to help them cut down substitute and quit a concept known as tobacco harm reduction . the health burden of tobacco usage and in particular tobacco smoking is very well known . tobacco smoking is a major global health epidemic with an estimated 1.3 billion individuals regularly smoking tobacco products across the world predominantly cigarettes . 5 it is well established that the key pharmacological element of tobacco addiction is the delivery of nicotine to the brain leading to the release of a range of neurotransmitters such as dopamine which yield powerful feelings of reward and pleasure to the individual . 6 the tobacco cigarette is a highly efficient nicotine delivery system that achieves rapid pulmonary delivery and sharp increases in the nicotine concentration in both arterial and venous blood . although nicotine is the predominant addictive chemical in tobacco smoke it is the other approximately 4000 chemicals including carcinogenic agents in the particulate phase that lead to the well established adverse health consequences of smoking . 6 the world health organisation estimates that tobacco usage killed around 5.4 million people a year and by 2030 projections estimate this figure will rise to around 8.3 million deaths per year . 5 existing regulatory approved nicotine delivery products edit it has been argued that long term success rates of existing nrt in smoking cessation remain low with a recent study showing that only 6.75 % of smokers receiving nrt therapy attained sustained abstinence for six months albeit twice the rate of placebo treatment . 7 as an explanation for these findings it has been argued that the major limitation with delivery of nicotine by current nicotine replacement therapy products is that they do not provide smokers with the combination of a rapid delivery of nicotine and the unique respiratory tract sensory cues of inhaled nicotine particularly upper airway irritation which together are of primary importance in relieving craving for cigarettes . 8 the nicotine nasal spray does achieve rapid delivery of nicotine but lacks the inhalational cues of cigarettes and has demonstrated limited acceptability due to the local irritant effects of nicotine on the nasal mucosa . 9 the nicotine vapour inhaler although simulating the behavioural aspects of smoking and presenting some sensory cues delivers nicotine very much slower than a cigarette . 9 voke edit kind consumer s inhaler technology was licensed for commercialisation to nicoventures 10 a consumer healthcare company established by british american tobacco to bring to market regulatory approved innovative nicotine delivery products . 11 it was expected that the technology will be manufactured by the bespak division of consort medical a london stock exchange listed healthcare company . 12 in september 2014 british american tobacco s voke 13 became the first imitation cigarette to be authorised by the uk s medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency mhra as a nicotine replacement therapy nrt . 14 the device is seen as a competitor to both e cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapies such as gum and patches as well as johnson & johnson s existing nicorette inhalator which is not designed as an imitation cigarette . 15 the idea took 13 years to develop and was the brainchild of alex hearn an asthmatic oxford graduate whose parents smoked and who went through more than 800 prototypes before settling on a design . 16 the voke inhaler contains a micro valve which is activated by the user inhaling and unlike an e cigarette does not need electronics batteries or heat to produce a hit of nicotine . 15 since it uses inhaler technology to deliver the nicotine the voke administers a precise dose of the drug which does not contain the tar tobacco or other substances found in regular cigarettes . 14 as a medicinal product voke can be prescribed by doctors as a safer alternative to smoking . 15 it will also be available to buy over the counter . industry analysts expected voke to be launched in 2015 . 14 as of september 2016 it is still unavailable . 17 notable investors edit kind consumer has attracted investment from a large british investment trust and a number of notable high profile angel investors 18 woodford patient capital trust a large british investment trust dedicated to long term investments predominantly in the united kingdom 19 sir terry leahy former chief executive of tesco plc 20 21 sir peter davis former chief executive and chairman of j sainsbury plc 3 martin beaumont former chief executive of the co operative group jon moulton a british venture capitalist and founder of better capital 3 references edit start uploaded 2011 alex hearn introduces kind consumer realbusiness 2011 alex hearn entrepreneur with soul a b c realbusiness 2011 idea of the week the healthy cigarette the independent newspaper 2011 revolution in smoking aims to stub out cigarettes with the help of tobacco firms a b who 2007 gender and tobacco control a policy brief a b royal college of physicians 2007 harm reduction in nicotine addiction helping people who can t quit . a report by the tobacco advisory group of the royal college of physicians moore et al. 2009 effectiveness and safety of nicotine replacement therapy assisted reduction to stop smoking systematic review and meta analysis bmj vol . 338 no. 7699 apr. 11 2009 rose 1988 the role of upper airway stimulation in smoking prog clin biol res . 1988 ; 261 95 106 . a b schneider et al. 1996 clinical pharmacokinetics of nasal nicotine delivery a review and comparison to other nicotine systems clin pharmacokinet . 1996 jul ; 31 1 65 80 nicoventures limited homepage . tobacco journal international 2011 bat unit to market nicotine inhaler guardian 2012 consort medical climbs after deal with british american tobacco for safer smoking product other nicotine products innovating beyond e cigarettes voke an innovative nicotine inhaler british american tobacco retrieved 2015 05 17 a b c roland denise 12 september 2013 . is this the world s first medically approved cigarette . the telegraph . retrieved 8 december 2014 . a b c hirschler ben 12 september 2013 . update 2 bat s novel e cigarette rival wins uk medical approval . reuters . retrieved 8 december 2014 . times newspaper 2014 e cigarette rival wins medical approval https www.voke.com default.aspx kind consumer website 2013 history woodford patient capital trust website 2015 patient capital trust update july 2015 express newspaper 2011 sir terry leahy s nicotine fix the independent newspaper 2011 leahy invests in safe tobacco after tesco made a killing on cigarettes retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kind consumer & oldid 738236449 categories companies based in londonhealth care companies of the united kingdom2006 establishments in the united kingdomhidden categories wikipedia articles with possible conflicts of interest from may 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 7 september 2016 at 19 00 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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