Ruth Tal-Singer spent more than two decades at GlaxoSmithKline, where she was a top scientist studying COPD - a chronic lung disease often related to

‘Mind-boggling’: Tobacco giant Philip Morris wants to sell medicine to treat lung disease

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2021-09-04 20:30:13

Ruth Tal-Singer spent more than two decades at GlaxoSmithKline, where she was a top scientist studying COPD - a chronic lung disease often related to smoking. She’s published dozens of influential scientific papers. And she now helps run the nonprofit COPD Foundation.

So she was stunned when a recruiter contacted her to see if she would be interested in working with Philip Morris International, the world’s largest listed tobacco company.

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 $US1 billion ($1.4 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.