The NicoBloc story begins during the Vietnam War when American soldiers searched for something to improve the taste of their free issue cigarettes. They would add a drop of glycerine to the filter to take away the bitterness.

This habit was remembered after the war, and the technique was adapted and experimented with as a way of reducing dependency on smoking. Following field research and laboratory testing, NicoBloc received clearance from both the FDA in the States and the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) in the UK.

Two US based scientific studies have confirmed the efficacy of NicoBloc's tar and nicotine reduction capabilities (Stillwell & Gladding 1993 and more recently the Baltimore Addiction Research Centre, 1998 - published in "Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behaviour", 1998).

The Baltimore report demonstrated that smokers do not change their smoking habits when using NicoBloc in order to compensate for the reduced levels of nicotine and a separate report by the University of Pennsylvania (1997) showed that the smokers' enjoyment of their cigarettes was not diminished.

With the assistance of over 130 major employers in Ireland and the UK during the 1990's, NicoBloc was tested on over 2000 smoking employees as part of a corporate stop smoking initiative known as the "Rosen Stop Smoking Programme".

Organisations covering every type of industrial and business sector, with employees ranging from shop floor staff to boardroom executives, took part in the programme. The organisations included many well-known names such as The Royal College of Surgeons, Yorkshire Water, Fortnum & Mason, Dixons, Mothercare, Guinness, Conservative Party Headquarters, Industrial Society, BUPA, Apple Computers, Royal Opera House, to name but a few.

The trial demonstrated that when NicoBloc was used as an aid to stop smoking very significant results were achieved with an average cessation rate of 58%. It was also observed that many of those that didn't stop smoking altogether were able to maintain lower consumption levels.

The programme gained widespread press coverage and was described by Vogue Magazine as "an innovative new programme that takes you there in stages, gradually and painlessly".

The trial confirmed the requirement to make NicoBloc available to a much wider audience and in 2001 a new company was formed to develop NicoBloc into a retail concept. For example where the corporate trials used training videos, the retail pack contains an informative DVD, backed up by a web site that provides interactive cessation assistance, answers to frequently asked questions and an opportunity for consumer feedback.