Abstract
Introduction: The tobacco industry has a long history of manipulating science to conceal the harms of its products. As part of its proclaimed transformation, the world’s largest tobacco company, Philip Morris International (PMI), states it conducts “transparent science.” This paper uses recently leaked documents from PMI and its Japanese affiliate, Philip Morris Japan (PMJ), to examine its contemporary scientific practices. Aims and Methods: Twenty-four documents dating 2012 through 2020 available from the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library were examined using Forster’s hermeneutic approach to analyzing corporate documentation. Thematic analysis using the Science for Profit Model was conducted to assess whether PMI and PMJ employed known corporate strategies to influence science in their interests. Results: PMJ contracted third-party external research organization, CMIC, to covertly fund a study on smoking cessation conducted by Kyoto University academics. No public record of PMJ’s funding or involvement in this study was found. PMJ paid life sciences consultancy, FTI-Innovations, ¥3 000 000 (approx. £20 000) a month between 2014 and 2019 to undertake extensive science-adjacent work, including building relationships with key scientific opinion leaders and using academic events to promote PMI’s science, products and messaging. FTI-Innovation’s work was hidden internally and externally. These activities resemble known strategies to influence the conduct, publication and reach of science, and conceal scientific activities. Conclusions: The documents reveal PMI and PMJ’s recent activities mirror past practices to manipulate science, undermining PMI’s proclaimed transformation. Tobacco industry scientific practices remain a threat to public health, highlighting the urgent need for reform to protect science from the tobacco industry’s vested interests.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 794-804 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Nicotine and Tobacco Research |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 27 Jun 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
Data Availability Statement
The data underlying this article are available in the article and on the University of California San Francisco’s Truth Tobacco Industry Documents library.Funding
Scientific research is fundamental to PMIs claimed transformation and substantiating the harm reduction claims it makes about its newer products. PMI promotes its role in science to both the public and policy makers, proclaiming it conducts \u201Ctransparent science.\u201D Yet recent evidence contradicts this claim and raises questions about whether PMI has truly transformed. For example, the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) claims to be independent but is solely funded by PMI and publishes PMI-favorable research, mirroring the long-standing tobacco industry practice of using scientific third parties to promote products and corporate messaging. Moreover, journalist investigations and academic reviews of PMIs science have raised serious concerns over the quality and ethical standing of PMIs clinical research. In a 2019 presentation, PMJ described its business goals as growing its \u201Creduced risk\u201D product market, increasing IQOS use amongst current and new consumers, building societal support, expanding differentiated regulation and accelerating conversion to its \u201Creduced risk\u201D products. It is unclear if \u201Cnew consumers\u201D refers to current nonsmokers. To achieve these, PMI set out a variety of objectives () relating to dissemination and amplification of its harm reduction science and messaging across politics and academia (strategies 12.1\u201312.4), engaging governments to ensure its stances are heard (strategy 14.3), and maximizing media coverage of favorable science (strategy 15.1). The leaked documents and publicly available materials suggest work was carried out to meet these objectives, including engaging with 15 prefectural governments, attempting to send a PMJ employee to the University of Tokyo as a visiting researcher, leveraging the Japanese National Fire Agency report and Australian Government application. In line with its objectives PMJ engaged with the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA), including sponsoring an APDA seminar in November 2020 in which the Secretary General of the Japan Parliamentarians Federation for Population spoke in favor of incorporating harm reduction in health policy. Further, PMI employees and scientists funded by PMI via the FSFW presented at the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum 2019 and the Global Forum on Nicotine 2019. The aforementioned KOL introduced to PMJ by FTI-I presented on the status of tobacco harm reduction in Japan at the same Global Forum on Nicotine and on \u201CPolicy Interventions for Differentiated Products\u201D at the 2019 Africa Harm Reduction Forum. In May 2019, PMJ employees E-mailed the Tobacco Free Initiative Officer for the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) to explain IQOS had been granted permission to be marketed in the U.S. The Officer congratulated PMJ on the \u201Cgreat news\u201D and asked to be kept informed of PMI\u2019s subsequent application to market IQOS using harm reduction claims in the U.S. The decision in the U.S. was largely predicated on scientific research provided by PMI in its application, including its clinical and post-market studies from Japan. We found no external evidence linking the Officer and PMI and PMJ. However, sharing this PMI-favorable regulatory decision from the U.S. with regulators from Japan may be an attempt to shape the latter\u2019s policy and research priorities (strategy 4.1) or infiltrate decision-making contexts to ensure the inclusion of scientific stances that are beneficial to the company (strategy 14.3). In the year following this E-mail exchange, the Officer published (as first author) two studies on HTP emissions, both of which support the use of HTPs indoors and were subsequently used by PMI to assert independent science claims its HTPs are less harmful than cigarettes. Both studies cite funding from the MHLW and all authors declared no conflicts of interest. Further suggesting attempts to shape policy and research, the documents reveal FTI-I had also introduced PMJ to the Director of the Japanese National Institute of Public Health, which provides the MHLW with science to support public health policy development and implementation.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Foundation for a Smoke-Free World | |
| Smoke-Free World | |
| Philip Morris International | |
| Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare |
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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