Philip Morris International inaugurated a production-scale factory for heat-not-burn products capable of producing 30 billion units a year, the company said.

Italy will make iQOS and another heat-not-burn product that PMI is touting as alternatives to cigarettes. Production at an existing Italian pilot plant will be phased out and the facility turned into a training centre, PMI said. The cigarette maker has invested EUR 500 million (USD 445 million) in the plants. The production plant currently employs 300 people, which could rise to 600.