Philip Morris goes “beyond nicotine”

US tobacco giant Philip Morris International has agreed to pay £1bn for British inhaler specialist Vectura.

US tobacco giant Philip Morris International “wants you to think it’s a healthcare company now”, says Rich Duprey on The Motley Fool. In February, the Marlboro cigarette owner launched its “beyond nicotine” initiative, which plans to “generate over half of its total net revenue from smoke-free products by 2025”.

Now it has agreed to pay £1bn for British inhaler specialist Vectura. The group’s devices have been used to help bring “13 inhaled medicines to market”. Philip Morris says it is evolving into “a broader healthcare and wellness company”, but critics spy “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.