Star Scientific Products Get New Life

GLEN ALLEN, Va. -- Star Scientific Inc. is licensing the trademarks and technology for its discontinued dissolvable tobacco products to Starion LLC.

In a regulatory filing Thursday, the Glen Allen-based company said it has sold its equipment and inventory to a group of former employees. The transaction with Starion is taking place in promissory notes totaling nearly $590,000. Starion will also lease part of Star Scientific's Chase City, Va., facility and pay royalties, according to The Associated Press.

In late 2012, Star Scientific revealed it was discounting the production and sale of its dissolvable tobacco products at the end of the year after its board of directors voted unanimously to discontinue the Ariva and Stonewall products. It had sold varieties of tobacco lozenges since 2001.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in December, the company said it intended to focus on its dietary supplement business, as CSNews Online previously reported.