Big Tobacco Meets Big Pharma. What Could Go Wrong?
Tobacco giant Philip Morris International is in the mood to diversify.
Not into new e-cigarette brands but into the acquisition of drug delivery companies—including some that treat smoking-related illnesses.
With falling smoking rates, the world’s largest listed tobacco company is looking, for example, to buy British drug firm Vectura, developer treatments for COPD (which is usually caused by smoking, per the CDC).
Advocacy organizations are protesting the sale.
Marlboro maker Philip Morris wants to buy COPD drug company Vectura as it looks to find new revenue - The Washington Post
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/09/02/marlboro-maker-buys-vectura
The tobacco company’s bid to hire Tal-Singer is a piece of a much larger plan by the New York-based company to pivot away from cigarettes and develop new lines of business that go beyond just smoke-free products. Philip Morris International calls it a “Beyond Nicotine” strategy and says it wants to earn $1 billion from these new ventures by 2025.
All cigarette companies know the industry that established their fortunes is fading, as smoking rates decline worldwide. Most are invested in vaping and e-cigarettes. But no Big Tobacco firm has been as aggressive as Philip Morris International in seeking out entirely new ways of making money.
The tobacco giant’s new goal has led to a buying spree of drug-delivery firms in recent weeks — stirring up sharp criticism and skepticism from doctors, scientists and health officials who distrust the tobacco industry, which for decades denied smoking was dangerous.
The acquisitions are especially galling, scientists and doctors say, because some of the target companies make treatments for smoking-related ailments.
“It’s like someone breaking your knees and then selling you the crutches,” said Tal-Singer, who declined the offer to work with the company.