Tobacco industry heavily investing in medicines for smoking-related diseases

The tobacco industry is investing billions in the pharmaceutical sector, focusing a large part of that investment on medicines for smoking-related diseases like asthma and COPD. Dutch pulmonologists are worried about the industry’s growing influence, Nieuwsuur reports.

With more and more countries implementing increasingly strict smoking policies, cigarette manufacturers are looking to become less dependent on tobacco sales. According to Nieuwsuur, their primary strategy is focusing on alternative nicotine products like e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. But they’re also pushing billions into pharmaceuticals.

Journalists from The Investigative Desk looked at 87 pharmaceutical products and medicines the tobacco industry is investing in. They found that half of the products are intended to treat diseases linked to smoking - lung diseases, heart disease, and diabetes. Dutch hospitals prescribe some of these products.

In promotional films, Marlboro producer Philip Morris says it is working towards “a smoke-free world.” By helping smokers switch to electronic variants - less harmful, according to the manufacturer - the big tobacco company wants to be part of the solution. Pharmaceutical investments fit into the “Beyond Nicotine” strategy aimed at transforming Philips Moris from a cigarette manufacturer into a sustainable “lifestyle and consumer welfare” company. In 2025, the company hopes for billions in turnover from the pharmaceutical industry.

Competitor British American Tobacco, known for Lucky Strike, has similar goals in its “Building a Better Tomorrow” strategy. The company told Nieusuur that it wants to help at least 50 million cigarette smokers switch to alternative products by 2050. To achieve that, “we are building an ecosystem [...] of companies that specialize in biotech, science, and wellness, among other things.”

A nice side-effect for the tobacco companies would be luring back the investors who have abandoned ship en masse as countries tightened their tobacco policies.

Frits Franssen, pulmonologist and professor of COPD at the University Medical Center in Maastricht, worries about the tobacco industry’s growing influence. He called their investments into medicines that treat smoke-related illnesses “uncomfortable,” pointing out that they’re earning twice from the smoker - once from the packet of cigarettes, then from treating the diseases caused by smoking.

“Their core business consists of a product that kills 1 out of 2 users. In the Netherlands alone, that amounts to 18,000 deaths per year,” Franssen said to Nieuwsuur. “We need to seriously think about regulations that make these investments impossible.”