Lausanne — Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE/Euronext Paris: PMI) and Scuderia Ferrari have extended their partnership until 2021. Their successful collaboration spans more than 40 years. As of today, the partnership will be exclusively focused on advancing the cause of a smoke-free world – a world in which all people who would otherwise continue smoking switch from the most harmful form of nicotine consumption – cigarettes – to scientifically substantiated less harmful alternatives that are smoke-free.
"We want to give the world's 1.1 billion men and women who smoke the opportunity to make better and informed choices. We are committed to use all available resources, including our motorsports related activities, to accelerate momentum around this revolutionary change for the benefit of people who smoke, public health and society at large. We deeply appreciate Scuderia Ferrari's support in this cause," said PMI's Chief Executive Officer, André Calantzopoulos.
Creating global awareness of the opportunity presented by innovation, science and technology to achieve a smoke-free world is of paramount importance. In addition to PMI's unwavering commitment to this goal, it is critical that governments, public health experts, the scientific community and civil society embrace the challenge and help put in place a sensible regulatory plan. The men and women who smoke and the people who care about them truly deserve this.
Scuderia Ferrari is the perfect partner for this challenge, because it harnesses a pioneering spirit, technology and innovation in a relentless pursuit of great ambitions. Our plan does not envisage any product-specific communications. We expect to announce further details in the coming months.
Burning tobacco generates smoke and the vast majority of harmful toxicants generally associated with smoking-related diseases. Since we became a public company in 2008, we have spent more than USD 4.5 billion to develop, substantiate and build manufacturing capacity for a wide portfolio of smoke-free products. In 2017, after only two years since commercialization started, nearly 40% of our worldwide commercial expenditure was dedicated to these innovative products. We are proud that in such a short period, according to our estimates nearly 5 million people have already stopped smoking and made the change to the most advanced of our smoke-free products. Our short term ambition is that at least one out of three of our consumers, 40 million men and women, will do the same by 2025.
With appropriate regulatory support, this number could be much higher by then. We hope today's announced initiative will be an important catalyst. Find out more about our vision of a smoke-free future at www.pmi.com.
Philip Morris International: Who We Are
We are a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other nicotinecontaining products in markets outside the United States of America. We are building our future on smoke-free products that are a much better consumer choice than continuing to smoke cigarettes. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, we aim to ensure that our smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. Our vision is that these products ultimately replace cigarettes to the benefit of adult smokers, society, our company and our shareholders. For more information, see https://www.pmi.com/ and www.pmiscience.com.
