The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorizes Philip Morris International’s (PMI) applications to sell its electrically heated tobacco system IQOS in the United States. The landmark ruling follows a comprehensive and rigorous two-year assessment of the science in our Premarket Tobacco Product Application.

Unlike cigarettes, the IQOS system heats — but does not burn — tobacco. It is the first electrically heated tobacco product to qualify for sale in the US under the 2009 law that empowers the agency to regulate tobacco products. The US now joins 47 other countries where IQOS can be legally sold.

“The FDA’s decision to authorize IQOS in the US is an important step forward for the approximately 40 million American men and women who smoke,” said André Calantzopoulos, PMI’s Chief Executive Officer. “Some will quit. Most won’t, and for them IQOS offers a smoke-free alternative to continued smoking.”

In just two years, 7.3 million people around the world have abandoned cigarettes and switched completely to IQOS. Today’s decision by the FDA now makes this opportunity available to American adult smokers.