Star Scientific Inc. is licensing the trademarks and technology for its discontinued dissolvable tobacco products.

In a regulatory filing Thursday, the Glen Allen, Va.-based company said it has sold its equipment and inventory to a group of former employees.

The transaction with Starion LLC is taking place in promissory notes totaling nearly $590,000. Starion also will lease part of Star Scientific’s Chase City, Va., facility and pay royalties.

Star Scientific had sold varieties of tobacco lozenges that dissolve in the user’s mouth since 2001, but sales had been low.

It stopped marketing its Ariva and Stonewall products at the end of 2012. Its focus then shifted dietary supplements, including its Antabloc anti-inflammatory support product.

The company’s CEO is at the heart of a political scandal involving Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.