British American Tobacco is recruiting 250 volunteers in Germany to test experimental cigarettes designed to produce less toxic smoke than conventional products.

The smokers’ biological reactions will be analysed through a battery of scientific tests. The study in Hamburg is believed to be the first modern clinical trial of tobacco treated to be safer when smoked. BAT’s long-term business plan is to produce cigarettes that can be marketed as less likely to cause disease, with solid evidence to support the claim.