Imperial Brands plc, formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc, is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, and Japan Tobacco, and the world's largest producer of fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers.Imperial Brands produces over 320 billion cigarettes per year, has 51 factories worldwide, and its products are sold in over 160 countries. Its brands include Davidoff, West, Gauloises Blondes, Montecristo, Golden Virginia (the world's best-selling hand rolling tobacco), Drum (the world's second-largest-selling fine-cut tobacco), and Rizla (the world's best-selling rolling paper).Imperial Brands is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization around £18.5 billion as of 4 June 2019, the 28th-largest of any company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.Imperial Tobacco Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of British American Tobacco, has no relationship to Imperial Brands.
Cigarette smoking is a cause of serious disease in smokers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). The processes underpinning the development of CVD are well understood. These involve many cell types and cellular processes contributing to the development of atherosclerotic plaques in blood vessels, leading to impaired tissue oxygen supply and acute manifestations such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals, some of which can be harmful to the cardiovascular system and may promote atherogenesis. In this narrative review, we assess the growing body of evidence concerning the potential cardiovascular health impact of next‑generation tobacco and nicotine product (NGP) use, including electronic vaping product (EVP), heated tobacco product (HTP) and oral nicotine pouch (ONP) use. Exclusive use of NGPs substantially reduces exposure to harmful toxicants compared with cigarette smoking. Regarding CVD risk, we determine that: (i) in vivo and in vitro modelling studies demonstrate the potential for NGPs to reduce CVD risk compared with cigarette smoking; (ii) switching to the exclusive use of these products leads to reductions in biomarkers of exposure to cardiovascular toxicants and favourable changes in CVD risk-related biomarkers of potential harm; (iii) population‑level data show that switching to the exclusive use of both EVPs and HTPs is associated with reduced risk of CVD and related comorbidities compared with continued smoking, though data for ONPs in this area are lacking; and (iv) regulators are increasingly using science‑based evidence when approving marketing authorisations and the use of consumer‑facing reduced exposure claims. Overall, supporting the complete displacement of cigarettes with the use of NGPs has the potential to reduce CVD risk and improve both individual and population health.
Smoking is a cause of serious diseases in adult smokers. Next generation products (NGP) can provide potentially reduced harm alternatives of nicotine delivery, due to the reductions in numbers and levels of toxicants associated with their use. These include heated tobacco and herbal products (HTPs/ HHPs) and electronic vapour products (EVPs). This study assessed the effects of a range of NGP (an HTP, an HHP and two EVPs) and a reference cigarette (1R6F) in the ToxTracker Antioxidant (AO) and ToxProfiler Mitotox Assessment Xtension (MAX) assays, which provide mechanistic insights via a range of cell stress endpoints. Aqueous extracts of smoke/ aerosol were generated by bubbling through phosphate-buffered saline solution, which was analysed for nicotine and carbonyl content. In the ToxTracker AO assay, 1R6F induced oxidative stress, genotoxicity and protein damage responses. Addition of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GSH) partially reduced selected responses, indicating oxidative stress contributes but does not fully account for all observed effects. Oxidative stress responses followed a similar trend for HTP; but was not classed as genotoxic. The HHP induced one oxidative stress marker, which was reduced by the addition of NAC/GSH. In the ToxProfiler MAX assay, 1R6F induced oxidative, endoplasmic reticulum and cell cycle stress. HTP induced the same stress pathways but was less potent than 1R6F. The HHP only induced an oxidative stress response, and at higher concentrations than 1R6F. The EVPs did not induce any of the cell stress markers across both assays and none of the test products induced mitochondrial toxicity. Overall, biological activity followed a decreasing gradient from 1R6F to HTP, HHP and EVPs. The findings of the assays used in this study reflect the proposed placement of such products on the relative reduced risk scale based on their smoke/aerosol chemistry and thus highlights the tobacco harm reduction potential of NGP.
This work evaluates CMOS-integrated, small-area ( 0.8-1 mm(2) ) silicon photovoltaic (PV) microcells as implant-grade power sources under low-flux near-infrared (NIR) illumination. The devices were characterized using an 808 nm laser diode with an incident optical power of 4.2 mW , representing a relevant NIR excitation condition for implantable energy-delivery applications. While silicon suffers from shunt leakage and recombination in this regime, we leverage a triple-well deep-N-well architecture to suppress parasitics and improve charge collection. We measure I - V characteristics across multiple angles of incidence (e.g., 56(degrees), 71(degrees), and 90(degrees)), and and observe open-circuit voltages near 0.51 V and short-circuit currents on the order of 140 mu A per cell under near-IR test conditions. We verify the observed trends using finite-element optical/electrical analysis that supports parameter extraction. We further develop a compact Verilog-A model that captures angle-dependent photocurrent, series resistance, and diode leakage, enabling circuit-level co-simulation. Using this model and measurements, we study series, parallel, and mixed series-parallel interconnections of microcells: series strings efficiently boost voltage for cold-start and regulator headroom at very low irradiance, parallel groupings mitigate current loss due to mismatch and incidence-angle dispersion, and mixed topologies improve load matching and harvested power. We combine device and process optimization, validated modeling, and array-level design guidance to demonstrate improved power conversion at low irradiance in the near-IR, supporting practical energy delivery for implantable electronics.
