The FDA said "an extensive scientific review" found the products were found to pose lower risks of cancer and other serious health conditions compared to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.
The pouches are used by less than 2% of US teens, the FDA said in granting the application allowing them to continue to be sold.
Zeller credited Gottlieb for advocating for the nicotine regulation within the Trump White House, after the Obama administration had fallen short. Obama officials had promised Zeller they would back rules to curb nicotine and menthol.
Officials proposed limiting the amount of nicotine to make cigarettes less addictive, but it's unclear if the incoming administration will offer support.
The FDA authorized the marketing of 20 Zyn products on Thursday, marking the first allowance for the fast-growing nicotine pouches.
The FDA authorized the marketing of 20 different Zyn nicotine pouch products -- the first brand to clear this regulatory hurdle in the increasingly popular class of single-use sachets of flavored nicotine designed to be placed between the lip and gums, which have been available for more than a decade.
Temple pulmonologist Dr. Jamie Garfield says the proposed regulation is an effective harm reduction strategy, but suggests it will take a significant lobbying effort for it to go into effect.
Zyn and the retailers who sell the product have run afoul of regulators in recent years. The FDA in April of last year warned 119 retailers to stop selling Zyn to underage people, and the company was ordered to pay $1.2 million last year for violating Washington, D.C.’s smokeless tobacco ban.
The Food and Drug Administration proposed a new rule on Wednesday limiting nicotine levels in cigarettes and certain other tobacco products.
The FDA's proposed rule would slash nicotine levels in cigarettes, most cigars and other combustible tobacco products, but not vapes, hookahs or Zyn.
Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center of Tobacco Products, said Wednesday that reducing the amount of nicotine in tobacco products to the levels proposed in the new rule should significantly reduce their addictive qualities, making it easier for individuals to quit.