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The science and the research behind IQOS.
Our scientific assessment journey.
Scientific program.
We have developed a comprehensive step-by-step scientific assessment program. This program is inspired by the practices of the pharmaceutical industry and is in line with the USA’s Federal Drug Administration’s 2012 guidance on the assessment of candidate Modified Risk Tobacco products. Our assessment was also conducted according to international standards.
IQOS satisfaction.
Our clinical study participants who switched to IQOS also report that IQOS provides comparable levels of satisfaction as cigarettes. This supports our view that IQOS has the potential to be an acceptable alternative for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke. Based on all the scientific evidence, we are confident that switching completely to IQOS is less harmful than continuing to smoke cigarettes.
However, and this is important: IQOS is not risk-free. The absolute best choice remains to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether. IQOS is not an alternative to cessation. It delivers nicotine, which is addictive.
Long-term studies.
Once IQOS is available in the market, the research moves from being conducted in a pre-market setting to a real-world post-market setting. There, we look at how the product is being used and by whom in order to complement our pre-market findings and to do our best to identify and prevent use or uptake by unintended audiences. After years of commercialization in many countries, the available data confirms our pre-market observations, in particular in terms of IQOS’ appeal to adult smokers and the relative lack of interest in former and never smokers.
We also monitor reports of health effects now that the product is used by millions of adult users. Long-term studies will eventually help us to evaluate the potential disease–specific risk reduction of IQOS. Gathering data to answer this question takes time, but it’s the right choice. So far, all the data we’ve seen points in the right direction.
The result.
IQOS is a better choice than continued smoking. The totality of scientific evidence available to-date clearly demonstrates that.
IQOS is not risk-free and delivers nicotine, which is addictive. The best decision any smoker can make is to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether.