By Timothy S. Donahue

Top Takeaways?

• Beyond age-gating: IKE 2.0 expands the company’s technology into product authentication, policy controls and compliance intelligence.
• Point-of-use focus: The platform connects verified users with authenticated products after they leave the retail counter.
• FDA backdrop: IKE’s standalone age-verification component PMTA remains under review as the agency considers device-access controls.

IKE Tech is taking its age-verification technology well beyond simply checking who is holding the vape.

The company launched IKE 2.0 on Monday, expanding its existing technology into a broader compliance platform that connects user verification, product authentication and configurable regulatory controls from manufacturing through point of use.

The biggest change is scope. IKE’s earlier work focused largely on interoperable age verification at the device level. IKE 2.0 adds product authentication, anti-counterfeit capabilities, supply-chain intelligence, and configurable policy enforcement to that infrastructure.

IKE 2.0 helps address what happens after a regulated product leaves the retailer. A purchaser may be age-verified at checkout, but manufacturers generally have limited ability to determine who ultimately uses the product, whether it is authentic, or whether applicable requirements are still met.

“Compliance cannot stop at the cash register,” said Thomas Chen, IKE Tech founding member and head of technology and intellectual property. “IKE 2.0 is built to carry identity verification, product authentication and configurable policy controls through the product and access life cycle, giving manufacturers and regulators a way to maintain accountability at the point of use.”

IKE 2.0 divides those functions into four interconnected layers.

Its Person Layer verifies the user and converts that identity into what IKE calls a secure Human Identity Token, reducing the need to share personal information in subsequent interactions.

The Product Layer authenticates and tracks products via direct device integration or NFC smart tags. The Policy Layer allows access and compliance requirements to be configured by jurisdiction, product, or SKU. The Intelligence Layer uses telemetry and analytics for anomaly detection, governance, and compliance review, with human oversight.

Together, the layers are intended to enable manufacturers to connect a verified person to an authenticated product and then apply the access requirements configured for that product or market.

“Across regulated industries, manufacturers and brand operators face the same challenge: compliance systems are built for the point of sale but offer little visibility or control beyond it,” said Jason Carignan, IKE Tech founding member and board director. “IKE 2.0 changes that. It gives manufacturers real-time supply chain intelligence, anti-counterfeit protections and compliance reporting that can be demonstrated to regulators and partners across markets, without building for each one.”

The system includes a web platform for manufacturers and brand operators, along with a brand-configurable consumer application that runs on the same infrastructure.

IKE says the platform is protected by 11 issued patents covering identity, authentication, and governance infrastructure, with additional applications pending. Biometric processing occurs on the user’s device, while verified identity is abstracted and tokenized into a Human Identity Token, rather than allowing raw personal information to circulate in subsequent interactions.

The company says the platform is SOC 2 Type II certified and designed to comply with the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.

From Age-Gating to 2.0

IKE 2.0 builds on technology that already has a regulatory history with the FDA.

In April 2025, IKE filed what it described as the first standalone component premarket tobacco (PMTA) product application for an interoperable age-verification technology. The FDA accepted the application for review in June 2025, and the review remains ongoing.

That system combines device-level technology with IKE’s application to verify identity and age before granting access to a compatible product.

The regulatory environment has since moved closer to the issue IKE has been targeting.

FDA’s March 2026 draft guidance on flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) specifically addresses Device Access Restrictions (DAR) as part of its evaluation of flavored ENDS PMTAs. The agency describes DAR as software or technology incorporated into the use of an ENDS device that provides sustained prevention of underage use through age and identity verification.

FDA also made clear that access restrictions alone may not satisfy the evidentiary requirements for flavored products. For flavors considered particularly appealing to youth, the agency said applicants relying on DAR would face an “especially high burden” to demonstrate, through robust scientific evidence, that the technology sufficiently mitigates youth risk.

IKE’s PMTA included a controlled Human Factors Study with 102 participants. According to the company, the system prevented underage device activation in every attempted case, 91% of adults rated it as extremely or very easy to use, and the user error rate was below 1%.

The study has not been peer-reviewed, and controlled results do not establish how the technology would perform in widespread real-world use.