“While these elements will postpone the achievement of our 2025 aspiration to reach over $1 billion of net revenues from Wellness and Healthcare products, they will result in a corresponding decrease in the level of investment in 2024.”

In context

“s our Wellness and Healthcare segment, starting with its first clinical trial results for our inhalable aspirin product. While it was observed that the experimental product had a rapid onset of effect, which is the key medical advantage sought, there was significant variability in inhaled dose among subjects. The study was therefore deemed unsuccessful, and as a result, product design improvements are required. Our plan was to file this product with the FDA later this year. However, additional time is now required, and the outcome is therefore less certain. In addition, the CDMO business has been facing slower-than-anticipated development, including cost-related challenges. Consequently, we recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment from our annual assessment, as detailed in today’s release. While these elements will postpone the achievement of our 2025 aspiration to reach over $1 billion of net revenues from Wellness and Healthcare products, they will result in a corresponding decrease in the level of investment in 2024. Our ambitions to build and monetize our product pipeline are unchanged. As in the early days of developing IQOS, certain headwinds are to be expected, and the 2021 acquisitions in this segment have provided us with unique and enabling R&D capabilities. We remain committed to developing our Wellness & Healthcare business and continue to see attractive mid and long-term growth potential on many fronts such as inhalable drugs, NRT, and consumer wellness products, including non-recreational cannabinoids, in line with applicable regulatory requirements. We also aim to accelerate Vectura’s growth, and will be exploring potential partnerships to enhance its CDMO business. We plan to discuss all these topics, including our plans for IQOS in the US and a full update on our Wellness & Healthcare b”