Innsbruck – Fontem Ventures, parent company of blu, the number one e-cigarette brand in the United States and a market leader in the United Kingdom, is partnering with IONICON to conduct pioneering research into e-cigarette aerosols.

With Fontem Ventures a strategic research alliance has been formed where the latest analytical tools are applied to the new consumer product category of e-cigarettes.

The IONICON Applied Science Team & Lab are providing essential services for several multinational customers in the aroma & flavor analytics business using IONICON’s unique PTR-TOFMS instruments and analytical know-how.

“We are delighted to be partnering with IONICON,” said Dr. Grant O’Connell, Lead Scientist, Fontem Ventures. “The company’s revolutionary Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry (PTR- MS) systems will help us establish and develop unprecedented analytical methods for the direct sampling and analysis of chemical compounds in both inhaled and exhaled e-cigarette aerosols.”

Founded in 1998, IONICON Analytik GmbH, located in Innsbruck, Austria, provides ultra-sensitive solutions for real-time trace gas analysis to some of the world’s leading companies.

Dr. Philipp Sulzer, Senior Scientist at IONICON said: “We welcome this new partnership with Fontem Ventures. Our PTR-MS systems are internationally recognized as the most sensitive and effective instruments for real-time monitoring of volatile organic compounds and this will be one of first times PTR-MS systems have been applied to e-cigarette research. IONICON is proud to be contributing to much needed scientific understanding of these relatively new category products.”

The study will be completed and submitted for publication in autumn this year.

About IONICON

IONICON Analytik GmbH was founded in 1998 to commercialize the unique Proton Transfer Reaction – Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS), recently adding the proprietary Selective Reagent Ionization – Mass Spectrometry (SRI-MS) technology.

Over 250 leading scientists, institutions and multinational corporations are among IONICON’s customers. They rely on PTR-MS instruments and IONICON’s analytical services for results in real- time at one out of a trillion parts (LoD < 1 pptv) but without time-consuming sample preparation procedures. About Fontem Ventures Fontem Ventures is the parent company of blu eCigs, the number one e-cigarette brand in the United States and a market leader in the United Kingdom. Headquartered in the Netherlands, but present on two continents, Fontem Ventures is an innovative consumer goods company, founded in 2012, which is committed to developing and growing a portfolio of products which meet consumer needs today and tomorrow, including the highest quality electronic vaping products (EVPs).