"Keep it a secret": Leaked Documents Suggest Philip Morris International, and Its Japanese Affiliate, Continue to Exploit Science for Profit

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.

Implications: Japan is a key market for PMI, being a launch market for IQOS and having the highest heated tobacco product use globally. Our findings, in conjunction with other recent evidence, challenge PMI's assertion that it is a source of credible science and cast doubt on the quality and ethical defensibility of its research, especially its studies conducted in Japan. This, in turn, brings into question the true public health impacts of its products. There is an urgent need to reform the way tobacco-related science is funded and conducted. Implementation of models through which research can be funded using the industry's profits while minimizing its influence should be explored.

Figure 1.

Timeline of events identified from the PMI and PMJ internal documents; color coded to four over-arching activities (see key). Abbreviations: PMI and PMJ: Philip Morris International/Japan; LSM: Life Science Management Inc; FTI-I: FTI Innovations Inc (formally LSM); CMIC: CMIC Inc; JMRI: Japan Medical Research Institute Co., Ltd; MoHLW: Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Figure 2.

Summary of the relationships and contracts (numbers 1–6) between PMI, PMJ, CMIC, Kyoto University, and related studies. We believe the “AAA” and “OHS” studies refer to PMI clinical trials: P1-AAA-02-JP⁸⁴ and P1-OHS-01-JP.⁵³ The Japanese text appears to reference the research questionnaires for the study on cessation. Abbreviations: PMI: Philip Morris International; PMJ: Philip Morris Japan; Univ: University.

Figure 3.

FTI-Is summary of the support it has provided PMJ 2013–2019 (slide 4 of FTI-I presentation “Discussion Material”). Abbreviations: KOL: key opinion leader; PMJ: Philip Morris Japan; RRP: reduced risk products; COI: conflict of interest. It is unclear what “PBI” stands for.