Marlboro moves closer to controversial deal for asthma drugmaker Vectura

Scientific organisations and health charities questioned the ethics of a tobacco company owning a maker of treatments for illnesses caused or worsened by smoking

More than 20 organisations, including Asthma UK, the European Lung Foundation and Action on Smoking and Health, signed a letter to Vectura’s board urging it to reconsider its decision for ethical and practical reasons. 

Marlboro-maker Philip Morris moved closer to the acquisition of Vectura, a maker of asthma drugs, after the company’s board backed the tobacco giant’s £1bn (€1.2bn) offer over a lower bid from Carlyle Group. 

Vectura described Philip Morris’s offer of 165 pence a share as “fair and reasonable” in a statement.