Philip Morris International's Hidden Funding of Swiss Research

An investigation by the Swiss Association for the Prevention of Smoking has shown that Philip Morris International's involvement in the publication of a study on benzopyrene by the Zurich Polytechnic was concealed from the Swiss Science Foundation. The investigation looks into the links of interest between a professor of toxicology and Philip Morris, and analyses how the tobacco company seeks to influence research to promote its new products.

Funding scientific research is a long-standing practice of the tobacco industry, dating back to the 1950s, when the link between smoking and cancer was demonstrated.[1]This funding from the tobacco industry places researchers in a situation of conflict of interest, particularly when they do not disclose its origin.

A similar situation was highlighted again in a survey published by the Swiss Association for the Prevention of Smoking (AT Suisse)[2]AT Suisse is not only an organisation specialising in smoking prevention, but also a competence centre which brings together 50 health organisations.

Financing and collaboration with PMI ignored by the other financer

AT Suisse's work aims to study the influence of benzopyrene – a carcinogenic element contained in smoke, including tobacco smoke – on modifications to the human genome.[3]Published by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), this study received financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), as well as from the cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris International (PMI). Several PMI employees also participated in the design and implementation of this study, as indicated on the page « News & Events » from the EPFZ website, which mentions this funding and this collaboration[4].

The investigation conducted by Luciano Ruggia, Director of AT Switzerland, revealed that the SNSF had not been informed of PMI's financial or technical participation in this study that it was funding. As the SNSF's rules on research independence are very strict, an internal investigation was conducted. In future, the SNSF will remind researchers every year that they must declare “any collaboration with an external partner”[5].

Luciano Ruggia assumes that the aim of this study would have been to produce data indirectly showing the safety of heated tobacco products. He subsequently wrote to the ETH Zurich to check whether it was aware of the partnership with PMI, but he is awaiting a response and a meeting with the ETH Zurich management is scheduled for the end of February 2024.

It has not yet been possible to determine whether the collaboration and funding were initiated by PMI or by the researchers concerned, nor to establish whether the SNSF was approached before or after the collaboration and funding agreement between the cigarette manufacturer and the university. The conditions for granting PMI funding remain unclear, but following questions from Swiss Romande television, it was possible to reveal that PMI paid one million Swiss francs (i.e. 1 million euros) for the investigation in question.[6]It is also not known whether the ETH Zurich's code of ethical conduct includes any reference to the tobacco industry, nor whether the ETH tolerates research by Shana J. Sturla, the toxicology professor in charge of the study, being presented on the PMI website as being produced by the tobacco company.

A long-term financial relationship between the lead author and PMI

According to the AT Suisse investigation, the relations, particularly financial, between Shana Sturla and PMI appear to be old and date back to at least 2014. At that time, Shana Sturla had already co-published an article with Manuel Peitsch, scientific director of PMI from 2008 to 2023. Shana Sturla has also collaborated on several other studies financed by PMI.

This long-term relationship between a secretly funded university researcher and the cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris is reminiscent of that of another academic who worked at the University of Geneva, Professor Ragnar Rylander. Long kept secret, his links with PMI were revealed by whistleblower Pascal Diethelm, following the publication of internal documents from the cigarette manufacturer. Ragnar Rylander's collaboration with PMI began in 1971 and lasted thirty years, significantly delaying the political decision to ban smoking in places of collective use intended to protect against the risks of exposure to tobacco smoke.[7].

Tobacco companies' attempts to influence research are not limited to more or less secretly funding and highlighting research that validates their discourse. They can also seek to conceal studies whose results are unfavorable to their products and the consequences that may result from them. AT Suisse thus cites the case of a study published in 2017 by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which pointed out that the aerosol produced by the IQOS heated tobacco device was as toxic as that of cigarette smoke.[8]. PMI then – without success – put pressure on the University of Lausanne to have the article unpublished.

AT Suisse has indicated that it will continue to investigate this matter and report on it in order to highlight the influence of PMI within Swiss universities.

Keywords: AT Switzerland, Swiss National Science Foundation, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Shana J. Sturla, Philip Morris International

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.

[1] Proctor R, Golden Holocaust, The Tobacco Industry Conspiracy, Paris, Ed. Equateurs, 2014.

[2] Ruggia L, Benzopyrene, smoke and money. The perfect Philip Morris International recipe for toxic scientific research. AT Switzerland, AT Research series, February 2024, 28 p.

[3] Jiang Y, Mingard C, Huber SM, Takhaveev V, McKeague M, Kizaki S, Schneider M, Ziegler N, Hürlimann V, Hoeng J, Sierro N, Ivanov NV, Sturla SJ. Quantification and Mapping of Alkylation in the Human Genome Reveal Single Nucleotide Resolution Precursors of Mutational Signatures. ACS Hundred Sci. 2023 Feb 22;9(3):362-372.

[4] Bergamin F, Where do toxins from tobacco attack DNA?, ETH Zurich, published February 23, 2023, accessed February 15, 2024.

[5] Gremaud S, A collaboration that is clouding the EPFZ, Le Quotidien Jurassien, published on February 9, 2024, consulted on February 15, 2024.

[6] Menichini M, Two EPFZ studies financed and carried out with Philip Morris, RTS, updated February 8, 2024, consulted February 15, 2024.

[7] Tobacco and electronic cigarettes - An example of scientific fraud implemented by the tobacco industry, AFIS Science, published June 2, 2015, accessed February 15, 2024.

[8] Auer R, Concha-Lozano N, Jacot-Sadowski I, Cornuz J, Berthet A. Heat-Not-Burn Tobacco Cigarettes: Smoke by Any Other Name. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177(7):1050–1052.

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