Avail Vapor divides its operations into three entities

Chesterfield County-based e-liquid manufacturing company Avail Vapor LLC divided its operations into three separate businesses as of Jan.1, the company announced Tuesday.

The three entities each have different responsibilities and include: Avail Vapor LLC (vapor retailer), Blackbriar Regulatory Services LLC (contract manufacturing, FDA compliance consulting) and Blackship Technologies LLC (research and development). Each company has its own management team and will be headquartered in Richmond.

With 99 stores in 12 states, Avail Vapor has 30 stores in Virginia alone, employs roughly 200 people. Avail Vapor was founded in 2013 and manufactures and retails e-liquid and cannabidiol (CBD) products such as e-liquid vapors, vaping devices and accessories. In June 2019, the company launched its own line of CBD products under brand name Leafana Wellness.

“Evolving our corporate structure supports our continuing growth across the multiple segments of our portfolio from vaping, manufacturing, distribution, regulatory services to future markets,” said James Xu, former CEO of AVAIL, now chairman of the three entities. “Due to the increasing importance of our regulatory consulting division at a time when U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliance is paramount, we want to drive even greater focus to that area, and also support the individual needs of our customers and clients.”

Blackbriar Regulatory Services, which currently employs approximately 15 people, specializes in helping small and mid-sized companies get products FDA approved and on the market. 

Blackbriar has entered into agreements with Costa Mesa, California-based e-liquid brand Charlie’s Chalk Dust to manufacture and submit some of its nicotine products for the FDA’s Premarket Tobacco Product Application, which must be reviewed and approved by the FDA before it can be legally marketed in the U.S. The deadline is May 2020 and the FDA will have six months to review the applications.