Philip Morris International (PMI) has raised its bid to buy respiratory drugmaker Vectura to more than GBP 1 billion, reports the BBC.

The Marlboro cigarette maker increased its offer to GBP 1.65 per share after US private equity firm Carlyle offered GBP 958 million on 6 August.
British pharmaceuticals business Vectura has not yet responded to enquiries about the new bid. According to the report, it previously said it was backing Carlyle's offer and withdrawing its recommendation for Philip Morris' earlier bid.
According to the BBC, Philip Morris said in a statement: "The PMI increased offer values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Vectura at approximately GBP 1.02 billion.”
"PMI intends to operate Vectura as an autonomous business unit that will form the backbone of its inhaled therapeutics business," the tobacco company added.
The new bid comes after PMI said it could stop selling cigarettes in the UK in 10 years as it focuses on alternatives, such as heated tobacco. The company indicated it would welcome a government ban on cigarettes and said that "strong regulation" was needed to "help solve the problem of cigarette smoking once and for all".
However, health charity Ash said it was hard to take such claims seriously from a company responsible for selling more than a tenth of the world’s cigarette.