Tobacco group Philip Morris International agreed on Friday to buy Vectura (VEC.L) for 1.05 billions pounds ($1.44 billion), giving the U.S. firm access to the British drugmaker's respiratory ailment treatments and inhaling device technology.

The move by Philip Morris is the latest push by big tobacco companies to change their image following years of negative press and lawsuits for marketing and selling cigarettes, a product that health advocates and experts say continues to be a leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide.