Philip Morris Sued for Buying, Abandoning Novel Aspirin Inhaler

Philip Morris International Inc. badly mismanaged and ultimately walked away from a lifesaving inhalable version of aspirin it acquired that could have transformed heart attack interventions, according to a lawsuit unsealed Thursday.

The complaint for breach of contract was filed by Kambiz Yadidi, a pharmaceutical industry veteran who founded OtiTopic Inc., which initially developed the failed Asprihale product. The potential breakthrough inhaler could have saved countless lives by delivering blood-thinning aspirin almost instantly to heart attack patients, who currently have to wait 30 crucial minutes for the chewable version to take effect, the suit says.

The tobacco giant bought ...