Mubasher: Altria and Philip Morris ended their talks to reunite in a merger that could have been valued at more than $200 billion, CNBC reported.

The two tobacco titans said that they would instead dedicate their focus to jointly launching a heated tobacco product, called IQOS, in the US.

“After much deliberation, the companies have agreed to focus on launching IQOS in the US as part of their mutual interest to achieve a smoke-free future,” Philip Morris’s CEO Andre Calantzopoulos was quoted by CNBC.

Altria and Philip Morris announced in late August that they were weighing a merger, after they split into two companies in 2007.

In the same context, Altria said that its senior vice president KC Crosthwaite would quit his position to take over as CEO of Juul, the vaping gaint in which Altria acquired a 35% stake last year for roughly $13 billion.  

In response to the news, Phillip Morris shares climbed by more than 7% in premarket trading, with a market value of $111.3 billion, while Altria rose by 3% to a market cap of nearly $76 billion.