How Low Will They Go? Philip Morris International Acquires Lung-Health Firm Vectura Despite Obvious Conflict of Interest

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Philip Morris International’s acquisition of Vectura – a pharmaceutical company that specializes in treatments for respiratory conditions – is the tobacco giant’s latest attempt to distract policymakers and the public from the fact that its main business is to sell cigarettes, products that kill 8 million people worldwide each year. It is a new low for a tobacco company to seek to profit both from selling products that destroy lung health and from possible treatments for the diseases caused by its products. Philip Morris International is no more credible than an arsonist offering to help put out the fire.

Far from helping to create a smoke-free future, as it claims to be doing, Philip Morris actively promotes and perpetuates the use of deadly cigarettes. Philip Morris sells the world’s best-selling cigarette brand in Marlboro and sold over 620 billion cigarettes worldwide in 2020 – many in low- and middle-income countries where 80 percent of the world’s smokers live. The company continues to aggressively market its cigarettes around the world while fighting evidence-based policies that can actually reduce smoking and create a smoke-free future. No one should be fooled: Philip Morris remains a primary cause of the global tobacco epidemic, not part of the solution.

For more than 60 years, Philip Morris has helped write the playbook on the art of deception with false claims about wanting to stop selling cigarettes or offering healthier products. Its current claims are no more credible.