Star Scientific - NASDAQ trading symbol changed to CIGX..

November 25, 2009 - Star Scientific, Inc. has announced that effective at the market opening on Monday, November 23, the NASDAQ trading symbol used by the company, STSI, is being changed to CIGX. Paul L. Perito, Star's Chairman, commented that "the change in trading symbol reflects our intent to signal more prominently the company's core mission and business, which is to reduce the harm associated with tobacco use. We have stated since the beginning that the most dangerous way to use tobacco is to inhale cigarette smoke into the human lungs, and that the best choice always will be to stop smoking."

Star Scientific's subsidiary, Star Tobacco, manufactures and sells two brands of dissolvable smokeless tobacco that are made with very low-TSNA tobacco - Ariva® and Stonewall®. These products were developed in 2001 and 2003 to offer adult dependant smokers (and users of traditional smokeless products) an alternative to cigarettes and other tobacco products. As the company recently reported, Star also is on track to submit an application in early 2010 to the FDA for approval to market Ariva® BDL and Stonewall® BDL dissolvable smokeless tobacco. The company hopes that these products will be the first to be approved by the FDA for sale as "modified risk" tobacco products.

Ariva and Stonewall Hard snuff. Star has just come out with a blister pack (packaging in which a product is sealed between a cardboard backing and clear plastic cover) for Stonewall lozenges.

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Stonewall Hard Snuff Packaging - front..



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Stonewall Hard Snuff Packaging - back..




In June 2007, Star Scientific formed its Rock Creek Pharmaceutical subsidiary in order to develop a range of botanical-based pharmaceutical products that are designed to treat tobacco dependence and a range of neurological conditions, as well as nutraceuticals. As the company has indicated in recent press releases, Rock Creek has developed a nutraceutical product (any substance that is a food or a part of a food and provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease), CigRx(TM) that is intended to help adults who have stopped using tobacco to maintain a nicotine-free metabolism. Pre-market testing and analysis is ongoing, and the company anticipates that CigRx(TM) will begin in test marketing in 2010.

Reference: Star Scientific Transitions to New NASDAQ Trading Symbol, PR Newswire, 11/23/2009.

Some related Star Scientific news briefs:
Star Scientific - new product (in 2010) to help adult smokers maintain a nicotine-free metabolism..;
Star Scientific - will use its low-nitrosamine tobacco curing process to formulate smokeless tobacco dissolvable smokeless products..
Star Scientific - q2 2009 report..;
Star Scientific - Filing patent for zero-nitrosamine tobacco curing process..;
Star Scientific - 2008 annual report/Stonewall vs other OTC NRTs..;
Star Scientific Corporate Study Stonewall Lozenge in NRT..;
Star Scientific Files Third Quarter Financial Report..;
Star Scientific wants to augment sales of their tobacco lozenges..;
Star Scientific , second quarter 2008, sales down 23.6%..;
Star Scientific Applauds Recent State Legislation - Banning Smoking in Cars with Children..