Business Wire

PHILIP-MORRIS-INTL

21.5.2019 20:46:07 CEST | Business Wire | Press release

Share
Philip Morris International Strengthens Organizational Capabilities to Realize Its Vision for a Smoke-Free Future

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE:PM) today announced leadership moves to accelerate the realization of its vision of a smoke-free future and further enhance business growth. The company has created the following new roles: Chief Consumer Officer (CCO), Chief Life Sciences Officer (CLSO), Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Chief New Ventures Officer (CNVO).

“Since the launch of our smoke-free product, IQOS , in 2014, we have made enormous progress both in terms of organizational capabilities, know-how and in our business results. With IQOS commercialized in 47 markets today, we are extremely proud of what has been achieved to date, including two recent milestones: realizing 10 million users and the U.S. FDA authorization to commercialize this smoke-free alternative in the U.S.,” said André Calantzopoulos, PMI’s Chief Executive Officer. “To accelerate, we must further enhance our ability to stay at the forefront of technology, science and consumer centricity.”

All four executive positions will report to Mr. Calantzopoulos as part of PMI’s Senior Management Team (SMT). Three of the four are new hires who will replace the current role of President Science & Innovation, currently held by Mirek Zielinski, who will assume the new role of Chief New Ventures Officer.

The role of CCO will be filled by Stefano Volpetti, an expert marketer in end-to-end brand building with more than two decades of international experience working across different markets in a variety of roles. He will be responsible for grouping all consumer-facing experiences across the consumer journey—connecting with legal age smokers to drive change—from trends and insights, product and brand portfolio architecture, and consumer communications, to channel strategy.

Stepping into the role of CLSO will be Dr. John O’Mullane, a broad integrative thinker who has led innovation and R&D across all of the significant consumer healthcare categories. He will build upon PMI’s unique scientific capabilities in RRPs and outline the company’s scientific strategy for new products and services that go beyond tobacco and nicotine. He will combine scientific excellence with commercial rigor to elevate the business transformation.

The CPO role has been filled by an experienced leader from the electronics industry and will be announced in the forthcoming weeks. The CPO will be accountable for the development and acceleration of the company’s innovative smoke-free product pipeline, related technologies and electronic devices manufacturing.

“It is both humbling and reassuring that we are able to attract senior executives of such deep experience, credibility and expertise,” said Charles Bendotti, Senior Vice President People & Culture, PMI. “We look forward to their contributions in accelerating business success and achieving our vision.”

For more on these and other aspects of PMI’s game-changing transformation, visit: www.pmi.com .

About Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future

Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the U.S. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI's smoke-free IQOS product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of March 31, 2019, PMI estimates that approximately 7.3 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI’s heat-not-burn product, which is currently available for sale in 47 markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com .

Contact:

Corey Henry / David Fraser Philip Morris International Media Office T. + 1 202-609-7296 / +41 79 843 8603 E. Corey.Henry@pmi.com / David.Fraser@pmi.com

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Kioxia and Sandisk Begin Production of 10th-Generation 3D Flash Memory Products atKitakami Plant Fab23.7.2026 12:19:00 CEST | Press release

Companies Showcase Ongoing Buildout of Manufacturing Infrastructure at K2 to Address Growing Demand for NAND Flash Kioxia Corporation, a subsidiary of Kioxia Holdings Corporation (TOKYO: 285A) and Sandisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK) today announced the start of production for their 10th-generation 3D Flash memory technology at Fab2 (K2) at the Kitakami Plant in Iwate Prefecture in Japan. The milestone comes as the companies continue to drive meaningful, multi-year bit growth to address the strong demand for their innovative flash memory technology. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260702296115/en/ Unveiling ceremony for the K2 facility In conjunction with the start of production, the companies held an unveiling ceremony for the K2 facility. Opening in September 2025, the facility has produced the companies’ 8th-generation 3D flash memory products and will begin to scale production with the introduction of their

VeriSilicon Introduces CPP2000 Camera Post-Processing IP for Embodied Robotics and Mobile Vision Applications3.7.2026 12:02:00 CEST | Press release

Enhancing image quality and visual perception for moving-camera systems VeriSilicon (688521.SH) today announced its high-performance CPP2000 Camera Post-Processing (CPP) IP, expanding the company’s Image Signal Processing (ISP) solutions with advanced post-processing capabilities. By improving image quality and visual perception in mobile imaging scenarios, CPP2000 enables more reliable vision performance in robotics, drones, and other mobile vision applications. CPP2000 integrates multiple image processing technologies and can further optimize YUV images output from image signal processors. The IP supports image and video processing at up to 8K resolution and offers multiple hardware configuration options to meet diverse requirements in Power, Performance, Area (PPA), and latency across different applications. CPP2000 leverages the combined operation of multiple image processing technologies, including motion-compensated temporal filtering, advanced spatial noise reduction, chroma adj

Messer Acquires Singapore-Based Industrial Gas Platform; Japan Corporate Advisory Institute Advises Sellers3.7.2026 11:11:00 CEST | Press release

Acquisition of WKS Group strengthens Messer’s Southeast Asia presence Messer, the world’s largest privately held specialist for industrial, medical, electronic and specialty gases, has acquired WKS Group, a Singapore-based industrial gas platform with operations across Singapore and southern Malaysia. Transaction terms were not disclosed. Messer reported consolidated sales of approximately EUR 4.5 billion for its 2025 financial year. Founded in Singapore in 1977, WKS Group comprises six companies and employs approximately 195 people across Singapore and southern Malaysia. The acquisition expands Messer’s operating footprint in Southeast Asia and strengthens its access to key industrial clusters across the region. “We are pleased to have completed this transaction with Messer, whose strategic vision makes them an excellent partner for WKS Group,” said Mr. Wong Koh Hoi, shareholder of WKS Group. “We appreciate JCAI’s professionalism and dedication throughout the process, and their expert

Access Advance Welcomes Meta Platforms, Inc. and Alibaba Group to the Video Distribution Patent Pool3.7.2026 01:00:00 CEST | Press release

Access Advance LLC today announced that Meta Platforms, Inc., one of the world's largest distributors of video content across its Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp services, has joined the Video Distribution Patent Pool (VDP Pool) as a Licensee. Meta also joined both the HEVC Advance and VVC Advance pools as a Licensee. Alibaba Group, whose video infrastructure spans a wide range of video-based services across e-commerce, entertainment, and digital media platforms, was also announced as a VDP Pool Licensee this week. Meta and Alibaba joining the VDP Pool further reinforces the program’s market leading position in resolving the licensing issues around the use of modern video codecs, including VP9, AV1, HEVC and VVC, across all the diverse business models of internet video streaming. "A significant U.S.-based company like Meta joining as a Licensee is a milestone moment for the content distribution business and the VDP Pool," said Peter Moller, CEO of Access Advance. "Meta reach

Kioxia Commences Sample Shipments of 10th-Generation BiCS FLASH™ Devices Delivering High Performance, High Capacity and Low Power Consumption3.7.2026 01:00:00 CEST | Press release

Production planned at Fab2 of Kitakami Plant Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has commenced sample shipments of 1Tb (terabit) Triple-Level-Cell (TLC) memory devices utilizing its 10th-generation BiCS FLASH™ 3D flash memory technology.1 These will be primarily integrated into the company’s enterprise and data center SSDs, strengthening Kioxia’s lineup to meet the growing demand for AI storage, which requires higher performance, higher capacity, and lower power consumption. These new products will be manufactured using state-of-the-art equipment at Kioxia’s Kitakami Plant Fab2 facility in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. By leveraging innovative CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) technology2 and On-Pitch Select Gate Drain (OPS) technology,3 both adopted since the 8th-generation BiCS FLASH™, the 10th-generation technology achieves a NAND interface speed of 4.8 Gb/s,4 a 33% improvement over the 8th generation. Bit density has increased by 59% by stac

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye