We're delivering a smoke-free future, faster

Why have we staked our future on smoke-free products? Because it’s the right thing to do.

Back in 1997, the UN Focal Point on Tobacco or Health stated that every effort should be made to reduce the toxicity of tobacco products.

We’ve risen to that challenge.

For more than 20 years, we’ve been working on developing and scientifically assessing less-harmful alternatives to cigarettes that do not create smoke, because they do not combust.

Our smoke-free strategy complements efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to tackle smoking, and our aspiration is to reduce smoking more than three times faster than the target they have set.

“Science is the strongest tool that can help adults who smoke to make informed decisions, offering the blueprint to build a better future for one billion smokers—and society more generally—around the world.”

Dr. Moira Gilchrist
Chief Communications Officer
Philip Morris International

In November 2016, we announced our commitment to a major business transformation—we would build PMI’s future on smoke-free alternatives that are a better choice for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke.

Our scientific results suggested that switching completely to these products would be likely to present less harm than continued smoking.

In December 2016, we submitted an extensive scientific package on our heated tobacco product to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in support of our applications for “modified risk” and “modified exposure” orders.

This marked a huge shift in the history of Philip Morris International, the world’s most successful cigarette company.

In July 2020, the U.S. FDA authorized the marketing of our flagship smoke-free alternative to cigarettes as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP).

This made it possible to inform American men and women who don’t quit cigarettes that switching completely to our heated tobacco product is a much better choice. The FDA also stated that issuing an exposure modification order for our product was appropriate to promote the public health, and was expected to benefit the health of the population as a whole.

The FDA’s decision provided an important example of how governments and public health organizations can regulate smoke-free alternatives to differentiate them from cigarettes in order to promote the public health.

This decision was consistent with earlier conclusions of other leading regulatory and scientific bodies, including in the U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands, which have found that the product emits lower levels of harmful toxicants.

We believe that comprehensive, science-based regulation can help to rapidly shift adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking to better alternatives, while simultaneously guarding against unintended consequences.

"To reach a smoke-free future, we need the right mix of government leadership and commercial ingenuity.
Together, we can dramatically accelerate efforts to reduce the prevalence of smoking."

Jacek Olczak
Chief Executive Officer, Philip Morris International