Open Science, June 2023

      How switching to smoke-free products has the potential to benefit current adult smokers: a focus on COPD

      In this Open Science event, we explored the potential benefits of smoke-free products to public health across multiple countries, including the results of our population health impact modeling and correlations observed in Sweden following the introduction of oral products.

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      COPD and population health

      Cigarette smoking leads to a number of smoking-related diseases over time, one of which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, and smoking is one of the most common factors in COPD development. As of today, this disease is neither curable nor reversible. For people who do smoke, quitting tobacco and nicotine altogether is the best way to minimize their chances of developing any smoking-related disease, including COPD.

      COPD is a serious disease, but even knowing this, many smokers do not quit. 

      The potential role of smoke-free products in harm reduction

      Smoke-free products provide nicotine in different ways, but the one thing they have in common is that they don’t burn tobacco in order to do it. Heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes provide an experience closest to cigarettes while delivering lower levels of harmful chemicals. Oral nicotine and tobacco products also provide nicotine, doing so without any inhalation to the lungs. All of these products generally contain nicotine, and they’re not risk free, but they can be better choices for adults than continuing to smoke cigarettes.

      EVENT DETAILS

      Live from the Cube

      This Open Science event was held at the Cube, Philip Morris International (PMI) R&D center in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

       

      Our speakers discussed several topics, ranging from population health impact modeling to seeing the effects in Sweden that correlate with the introduction of oral products. Together, these areas of research illustrate the opportunity for smoke-free products to complement traditional tobacco control measures and drive accelerated declines in smoking.

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      OPEN SCIENCE SPEAKERS

      Discussion was moderated by Sukhi Hayer, former journalist and media expert.

      Smoke-free products and their potential impact on COPD

      In our eleventh Open Science event, we focus on the potential impact that smoke-free products can have on COPD, the third leading cause of death worldwide. 

      To do so, a panel composed of two leading scientists from PMI, a guest scientist from Swedish Match, and a professor of internal medicine review in detail the data available worldwide. Together, they have an open discussion on PMI's modeling used in a study aimed at assessing the potential impact of tobacco control and smoke-free products on smoking-related COPD mortality.

      They also discuss how in Sweden, the data seem to suggest that COPD rates among Swedish men have been significantly reduced after the use of the oral smokeless tobacco product snus overtook cigarette smoking among men. They also dive into the promising results of the first independent studies on smoke-free product use among COPD patients.

      As is the case with Open Science events, the panel answers questions live from the audience providing further insights into the application of the population health impact model for other countries as well as discussing the limitations of the model itself. Furthermore, they address the health risks associated with oral smokeless products, emphasizing the importance of quitting tobacco and nicotine altogether is the best choice for individuals dealing with COPD. Learn more about this topic by watching this Open Science event.

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      Three key takeaways from the discussion

      In this Open Science event, our speakers covered the following points:

      • PMI’s modeling results show that, together, tobacco control and smoke-free products can make the biggest impact on smoking-caused COPD mortality.
      • In Sweden, COPD rates among Swedish men have been significantly reduced after the use of snus overtook cigarettes among men.
      • Some of the first independent studies on smoke-free product use among COPD patients are showing promising results.
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      Reduced Risk Products ("RRPs”) is the term we use to refer to products that present, are likely to present, or have the potential to present less risk of harm to smokers who switch to these products versus continuing smoking. PMI has a range of RRPs in various stages of development, scientific assessment and commercialization. All of our RRPs are smoke-free products that deliver nicotine with far lower quantities of harmful and potentially harmful constituents than found in cigarette smoke.