Arizona Tribune - Charlie's Holdings (OTCQB:CHUC) Signs Agreement with IKE Tech to Commercialize Transformational Age-Gated Vapes that Will Address FDA Concerns Related to Youth Access

COSTA MESA, CA / ACCESS Newswire / January 5, 2026 / Charlie's Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:CHUC) ("Charlie's" or the "Company"), an industry leader in the premium vapor products space, today reported that the Company has signed a definitive licensing agreement with IKE Tech LLC ("IKE") to commercialize the first-ever AI-powered blockchain-based age-gating system for vape products in the United States.

E-cigarettes and related vapor products are widely recognized as lower risk alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Accordingly, over the last 15 years, e-cigarette usage in the United States has grown significantly while combustible cigarette smoking rates have dropped. Public health advocates are pleased by this development.

80-90% of adult consumers prefer flavored vapor products

Both the e-cigarette industry and public health officials have come to recognize that 80-90% of adult consumers prefer flavored vapor products over tobacco, menthol, or "clear" flavors and understand that most adult cigarette smokers will continue using traditional combustible products if flavored vapor products are not available. However, operating on the assumption that flavored vapor products can be highly attractive to youth - and that the priority for public health must be the prevention of nicotine usage by underage consumers - to date, the FDA has not authorized for sale in the United States a single flavored vapor product.

California, Massachusetts, parts of New York State, and many other regions across the country have also imposed significant restrictions or outright bans on flavored ENDS products. These bans have led to an explosion of illicit foreign products, confusion among retailers, and, most unfortunately, to the elimination of legal flavored products as an option for many adult cigarette smokers who would prefer to switch to far less harmful (flavored) vapes.

In this environment, it is apparent that the only way to provide adult smokers with the flavored vapor products that they desire over far more harmful combustible cigarettes, is to "age-gate" flavored vapor products in such a way as to eliminate the possibility that underage consumers can activate or utilize the devices.

Numerous companies in the vapor products industry have spent years and millions of dollars on the development of age-gating systems. Most of these systems, however, do not feature "continuous age-gating" (and may, therefore, result in a scenario where the ineffectively age-gated product is purchased by an adult consumer and subsequently used by an underage individual), or the age-gating mechanism is so complex and cumbersome that it renders the device commercially infeasible. Further, to date, no age-gated vapor product has received FDA authorization to be sold in the US market.

Continuous age-gating is the only effective means of preventing youth usage.

Charlie's age-gated SBX Disposable vape - utilizing IKE's patented technology - prevents underage consumers from activating or utilizing the device using BLE-enabled chips and biometric authentication to control the device continuously and in real-time.

In a multi-center Human Factors Validation Study designed to evaluate (i) effectiveness in preventing underage access to the ENDS products, (ii) usability, and (iii) safety, results showed:

• 100% of users successfully completed age verification

• 0% of underage users were able to activate a device

• 100% of devices deactivated after a period of inactivity or loss of Bluetooth signal

• 91% rated the app "Extremely Easy" or "Very Easy" to use

• Errors occurred in only 1% of task attempts

The results of the Human Factors Validation Study confirm that the IKE age-gating system effectively prevents underage access and provides a highly user-friendly experience for adults. Full findings from the study will be published on clinicaltrials.gov, and the Abstract can be found on https://www.iketech.com/clinical-trials/protocols.

Charlie's will test market the IKE age-gating system this spring with a special line of the Company's popular SBX nicotine analogue product; simultaneously, Charlie's intends to incorporate the revolutionary technology into its PACHA branded Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).

"There is a large un-met need for technologies that can satisfy or accommodate concerns the FDA has related to youth access... which means there is a multi-BILLION market opportunity for flavored vapes that are inoperable for underage individuals," explained Henry Sicignano, Charlie's President. "We believe Charlie's could become the first Company to demonstrate to the FDA that age-gated flavored vape products are indeed 'appropriate for the protection of public health.' Such a success would not only be game changing for Charlie's, but also transformational for the entire industry."

John Patterson, President of IKE Tech explained, "IKE is establishing the blueprint for responsible vaping globally. Our agreement with Charlie's represents an industry first in deploying proprietary technologies that protect public health, enable regulatory compliance, and drive sustainable industry growth. We chose to partner with Charlie's because Charlie's non-nicotine SBX product line enables immediate deployment of age-gated technology to the US market, ahead of standard PMTA timelines. This partnership is proof that the industry can bring manufacturers, regulators, and innovators together to protect youth, secure the supply chain, and ensure responsible access for adults."

"We believe age-gating is both a responsible business practice as well as a significant competitive advantage for Charlie's," commented Ryan Stump, Charlie's Chief Operating Officer. "By voluntarily age-gating a product that does not require FDA approval, Charlie's will demonstrate to public health officials - and to compliance-minded national convenience store chains - that the Company is absolutely committed to regulatory compliance and youth access prevention."

About Charlie's Holdings, Inc.

Charlie's Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:CHUC) is an industry leader in the premium vapor products space. The Company's products are sold around the world to select distributors, specialty retailers, and third-party online resellers through subsidiary company Charlie's Chalk Dust, LLC has developed an extensive portfolio of brand styles, flavor profiles, and innovative product formats.

For additional information, please visit Charlie's corporate website at: Chuc.com and the Company's branded online websites: sbxvape.com, CharliesChalkDust.com, enjoypachamama.com, and Pacha.co.

About IKE Tech LLC

IKE Tech LLC is a joint venture comprised of Ispire Technology Inc., Touch Point Worldwide Inc. d/b/a Berify, and Chemular Inc. IKE is dedicated to advancing next-generation Identity and Age Verification (IAV) systems for ENDS devices. Its patented BLE System-on-a-Chip allows manufacturers to embed customizable, interoperable access controls into vapor devices -ensuring authorized adult use and preventing youth access through real-time mobile and biometric authentication.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company's overall business, existing and anticipated markets and expectations regarding future sales and expenses. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "should," "believe," "target," "project," "goals," "estimate," "potential," "predict," "may," "will," "could," "intend," variations of these terms or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions, are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond the Company's control. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: the Company's ongoing ability to quote its shares on the OTCQB; whether the Company will meet the requirements to up-list to a national securities exchange in the future; the Company's ability to successfully increase sales and enter new markets; whether the Company's PMTA's for its nicotine-containing products will be authorized by the FDA, and the FDA's decisions with respect to the Company's future PMTA's for nicotine products; the Company's ability to manufacture and produce products for its customers; the Company's ability to formulate new products; the acceptance of existing and future products; the complexity, expense and time associated with compliance with government rules and regulations affecting nicotine, synthetic nicotine, products containing nicotine substitutes, and products containing cannabidiol; litigation risks from the use of the Company's products; risks of government regulations; the impact of competitive products; and the Company's ability to maintain and enhance its brands, as well as other risk factors included in the Company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, annual report on Form 10-K, and other SEC filings. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations.

Investors Contact:

[email protected]
Phone: 949-570-0691

SOURCE: Charlie's Holdings, Inc.

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A.O.Scott--AT