Public health groups have reacted with astonishment to PMI’s takeover of Vectura Group, according to The Evening Standard.
“It’s ironic that a tobacco company wants to invest in the lung health industry when their products are the biggest preventable cause of cancer, including lung cancer,” said Cancer Research U.K. Chief Executive Michelle Mitchell.
“If PMI really wanted to help, they could stop aggressively promoting and selling their products altogether.”
Sources told The Evening Standard that the Vectura board had a “fiduciary duty” to recommend the offer to shareholders based purely on its value.
“PMI claims it holds more than a quarter of the global market for cigarettes, so its drive to become a ‘wellness company’ is a long way from fruition,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health.
“I can’t imagine the scientists working for Vectura, a respectable company making products that treat lung cancer, are going to be at all happy waking up to find they’re going to be working for Big Tobacco.”
Vectura declined to comment on what its employees might think about working for a tobacco company.
PMI says it is working on using the technology it has developed for its smoke-free products to help drug companies develop inhalable medicines.
PMI aims to generate $1 billion of net revenues from “beyond nicotine” products by 2025. Last year, total net revenues were $76 billion.