NEW YORK -- Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) has entered into an agreement that assigns global patent rights to PMI of a new technology employing a unique method for delivering a nicotine-containing aerosol that has the potential to reduce the harm of smoking. It avoids the burning process, and users inhale the nicotine without smoking.
The technology has been acquired from its inventors, including Jed Rose, Ph.D., a Duke University professor and leading expert in the field of nicotine addiction research.
"We believe this new technology has the potential over [image-nocss] time to offer an attractive alternative to conventional cigarettes, thereby reducing smokers' exposure to carcinogens and other harmful smoke constituents," said Rose.
Rose told the Associated Press that the next step is for PMI to develop a commercial product using the technology. The system differs from current medicinal nicotine inhalers available on the market as stop-smoking aids because it delivers nicotine more rapidly to mimic the nicotine "hit" a cigarette provides smokers.
"The other methods of delivering nicotine fall short of providing smokers with the satisfaction that they crave," Rose said.
"This agreement represents a further important step in our efforts to develop products that have the potential to reduce the risk of smoking-related diseases," said Doug Dean, PMI's senior vice president of research and development. "We look forward to working jointly with Dr. Rose to assure the product development and eventual commercialization of this unique technology."
PMI spokesperson Peter Nixon told AP that it may take three to five years to develop a commercial product that would be considered an alternative to conventional cigarettes.
The announcement is the latest in a series of steps by tobacco companies to venture into smokeless tobacco and other nicotine products as tax increases, health concerns, smoking bans and stigma cut into demand for cigarettes, said the news agency.
Last month, British American Tobacco PLC created a subsidiary called Nicoventures focused on nicotine alternatives. In 2009, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc. purchased Swedish company Niconovum whose nicotine gum, pouches and spray help people stop smoking.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is developing guidelines for companies interested in developing what the agency calls modified-risk tobacco products.
PMI, based in New York City and Lausanne, Switzerland, is a leading international tobacco company with seven of the world's top 15 brands, including Marlboro. PMI's products are sold in approximately 180 countries. In 2010, the company held an estimated 16% share of the total international cigarette market outside of the United States, it said.
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