Kind Consumer
{{short description|UK-based company, developer of Voke nicotine inhaler}}
{{Infobox company
|name = Kind Consumer Ltd
|trade_name = Kind Consumer
|logo = Kind Consumer Logo.png
|logo_size = 300px
|type = Private company
|founder = Alex Hearn
|area_served =
|key_people = Alan Sutherland
(Chief Executive Officer)
Alex Hearn
(Founder)
Dr Chris Moyses
(Chief Medical Officer)
|industry = Pharmaceuticals
|products = Voke
|revenue =
|operating_income =
|net_income =
|assets =
|equity =
|owner =
|num_employees = 15
|parent =
|divisions =
|subsid =
|homepage = {{URL|http://www.kindconsumer.com}}
|footnotes =
|intl =
|foundation = London, United Kingdom 2006
| defunct = {{End date|2020|12|9|df=yes}}
|location_city = London
|location_country = England, UK
|locations =
|market cap =
}}
Kind Consumer Limited was a UK-based company that developed Voke, a nicotine inhaler intended to address tobacco harm reduction. The company was founded in 2006 by Alex Hearn, a British inventor and entrepreneur based in London.[http://startuploaded.com/alex-hearn-introduces-kind-consumer/ Start Uploaded (2011) - Alex Hearn introduces Kind Consumer][http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/2436-alex_hearn_entrepreneur_with_andldquosoulandrdquo. realbusiness (2011) -Alex Hearn: entrepreneur with “soul”][http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/6233-idea-of-the-week-the-healthy-cigarette realbusiness (2011) - Idea of the week: the healthy cigarette]
The company collapsed into administration in 2020, after raising £140m in funding from investors.[https://news.sky.com/story/woodford-backed-nicotine-inhaler-voke-goes-up-in-smoke-12155914 Voke Goes Up In Smoke] - Sky News, 9 December 2020
Voke
Kind Consumer's inhaler, Voke was designed to provide the combination of a rapid delivery of nicotine and the unique respiratory tract sensory cues of inhaled nicotine which together are of primary importance in relieving craving for nicotine. 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.[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/consumer/article4204471.ece Times Newspaper (2014) - E-cigarette rival wins medical approval]
The Voke Inhaler contained a micro-valve which was activated by the user inhaling, and unlike an e-cigarette, does not need electronics, batteries or heat to produce a hit of nicotine. 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemicals/11091408/Is-this-the-worlds-first-medically-approved-cigarette.html|title=Is this the world's first medically-approved 'cigarette'?|last=Roland|first=Denise|date=12 September 2013|work=The Telegraph|accessdate=8 December 2014}}
In late 2010, Kind Consumer agreed an exclusive development and distribution agreement with Nicoventures Limited (later renamed Nicovations Limited) a wholly owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco plc.
In September 2014, Voke became the first simulated cigarette to be authorised by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).{{Cite web|date=2014-09-12|title=Nicotine inhaler is first device of its kind to be licensed as|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/nicotine-inhaler-first-device-its-kind-be-licensed-medicine-britain-9730012.html|access-date=2021-04-07|website=The Independent|language=en}} The device was seen as a competitor to both e-cigarettes and nicotine-replacement therapies, such as gum and patches.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/health-ecigarettes-brit-am-tobacco-idUSL5N0RD0ML20140912|title=UPDATE 2-BAT's novel e-cigarette rival wins UK medical approval|last=Hirschler|first=Ben|work=Reuters|accessdate= 8 December 2014 |date= 12 September 2013}}
Voke was launched in the UK on 5 November 2019. It could be prescribed as an aid to smoking cessation or reduction, or could be purchased directly from Kind Consumer.{{cite web |title=Smokers Offered Fresh Hope With the UK Launch of VOKE |url=https://www.streetinsider.com/PRNewswire/Smokers+Offered+Fresh+Hope+With+the+UK+Launch+of+VOKE/16086481.html |website=StreetInsider.com}}{{cite web |title=New nicotine inhaler available for GPs to prescribe {{!}} GPonline |url=https://www.gponline.com/new-nicotine-inhaler-available-gps-prescribe/article/1668647 |website=www.gponline.com}}
Funding
Kind Consumer attracted investment from an investment trust and a number of angel investors:{{Cite web |url=http://www.kindconsumer.com/company-overview/history/ |title=Kind Consumer Website (2013) - History |access-date=2013-05-17 |archive-date=2013-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506153804/http://www.kindconsumer.com/company-overview/history/ |url-status=dead }}
- Woodford Patient Capital Trust a large British investment trust dedicated to long term investments predominantly in the United Kingdom[https://woodfordfunds.com/insight/wpct-july-2015/5 Woodford Patient Capital Trust Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926135420/https://woodfordfunds.com/insight/wpct-july-2015/5/ |date=2015-09-26 }} (2015) Patient Capital Trust update, July 2015
- Sir Terry Leahy, former Chief Executive of Tesco plc[http://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/250514/Sir-Terry-Leahy-s-nicotine-fix Express newspaper] (2011) - Sir Terry Leahy’s nicotine fix[https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/leahy-invests-in-safe-tobacco-after-tesco-made-a-killing-on-cigarettes-2292452.html The Independent newspaper(2011) - Leahy invests in 'safe' tobacco (after Tesco made a killing on cigarettes)]
- Sir Peter Davis, former Chief Executive and Chairman of J Sainsbury plc
- Martin Beaumont, former Chief Executive of the Co-operative Group
- Jon Moulton, a British Venture Capitalist and founder of Better Capital
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.kindconsumer.com/}}
Category:Companies based in the London Borough of Camden
Category:Health care companies established in 2006
Category:Health care companies disestablished in 2020
Category:2006 establishments in England
Category:2020 disestablishments in England