New distribution facility supports rapidly growing demand for hemp/cannabis products

BUFFALO, N.Y., Nov. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GVB Biopharma, a 22nd Century Group company (Nasdaq: XXII), today announced that it has opened a new, strategically-located distribution facility in the Netherlands to support its growing business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The new distribution facility will increase existing and new customer access to GVB’s quality hemp/cannabis products, speed up transaction flow, and optimize cross border tax and customs treatment.

Recent increases in GVB’s U.S. manufacturing capacity are complementary to the advent of the Company’s Netherlands distribution facility. Additional capacity is in part earmarked to satisfy increasing demand in European markets where margins are higher than in the U.S.

“We are excited to expand our business operations in Europe, allowing our customers and partners to access quality products in a more efficient manner,” said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. “With our new Netherlands distribution facility, we can now deliver product to our partners in half the time and better serve our growing customer base with quality distillate and isolates. In Europe, the hemp/cannabis industry is expanding rapidly and is expected to reach €3.2 billion by 2025. Our new facility will allow us to capture more of that market share, scale our operations, and expand our customer base in this region.”

About GVB Biopharma
GVB Biopharma, a 22nd Century company, is a global-scale specialty ingredient supplier and contract development & manufacturing organization (CDMO) with manufacturing locations in Nevada and Oregon. GVB is the largest merchant provider of cannabinoid extracts and isolates in North America with a focus on cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) extracted and refined at an industrial scale into distillates and isolates. GVB Biopharma’s facilities are NSF International audited and are cGMP Registered for dietary supplements manufacturing. GVB is widely regarded as a best-in-class operator with a leading position in the hemp-derived active ingredients market, with around 15% market share and growing. GVB is also a white-label contract manufacturer of tinctures, gel capsules, gummies, mints, tablets, topical, and vape offerings.

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII) is a leading agricultural biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco and improving health and wellness through plant science. With dozens of patents allowing it to control nicotine biosynthesis in the tobacco plant, the Company has developed proprietary reduced nicotine content (RNC) tobacco plants and cigarettes, which have become the cornerstone of the FDA’s Comprehensive Plan to address the widespread death and disease caused by smoking. The Company received the first and only FDA MRTP authorization of a combustible cigarette in December 2021. In tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hop plants, 22nd Century uses modern plant breeding technologies, including genetic engineering, gene-editing, and molecular breeding to deliver solutions for the life science and consumer products industries by creating new, proprietary plants with optimized alkaloid and flavonoid profiles as well as improved yields and valuable agronomic traits.

Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on YouTube.

Learn more about VLN^® at tryvln.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “explore,” “foresee,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “preliminary,” “probable,” “project,” “promising,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 1, 2022, and in the Company’s Quarterly Report filed on August 9, 2022. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

GVB Biopharma U.K. & Europe Contact
Karl Muldowney
Commercial Director, GVB U.K. & Europe
[email protected]

Investor Relations & Media Contact
Mei Kuo
22nd Century Group, Inc.
Director, Communications & Investor Relations
[email protected]

Darrow Associates Investor Relations
Matt Kreps
[email protected]

Source: 22nd Century Group, Inc

This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.

About Ryan Allway

Mr. Allway has over a decade of experience in the financial markets as both a private investor and financial journalist. He has been actively involved in the cannabis industry since its inception, covering public and private companies.

• Two Additional Distribution Partnerships Will Target Thousands of Additional Colorado Retail Stores
• Strong Pilot Results Lead to Expanding VLN^® Points of Sale in Chicago and the State of Illinois

BUFFALO, N.Y., Sept. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII), a leading agricultural biotechnology company dedicated to improving health with reduced nicotine tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hops advanced plant technologies, today announced that in September the Company will expand Illinois sales of VLN^® to additional stores plus launch in the state of Colorado with both current and new distribution partners. 22nd Century’s proprietary VLN^® brand premium tobacco cigarettes smoke, smell, and taste like cigarettes but contain approximately 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes, a level shown to be non-addictive. As noted on the packaging, VLN^® is the only cigarette in the world purposefully designed to “help you smoke less.”

In order to make VLN^® available to adult smokers, 22nd Century has already initiated partnerships with two of America’s leading cigarette retailers. Circle K is the largest chain of company-owned and operated (non-franchised) convenience chains in the United States and the second largest in North America overall. Smoker Friendly^® is a leading pioneer in the cigarette and tobacco store category, with more than 800 independently owned and operated retail stores.

Additionally, and to further expand its sales reach in Colorado and elsewhere as it continues to roll out VLN^®, 22nd Century will announce two additional distribution partners as part of its launch in Colorado, adding thousands of potential points of sale statewide and new regional and national retail logos where VLN^® can be purchased.

In parallel with the Company’s launch in Colorado and based on the strong pilot results in Chicago, Circle K is also expanding VLN^® distribution to additional stores in the State of Illinois.

The steps being taken in Colorado and Illinois are in keeping with 22nd Century’s plans to have distribution and retail partnerships in place to support expanding availability of VLN^® to adult smokers across the country. At this date, the Company has already completed state Attorney General registrations for VLN^® in 44 U.S. States and the District of Columbia.

“We are excited to expand our VLN^® launch to Colorado with both current and new partners. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from consumers during our Chicago pilot has demonstrated impressive demand and rapid market entry for VLN^® as the first and only tobacco cigarette that actually helps adult smokers smoke less,” said John J. Miller, president of 22nd Century’s Tobacco Business. “Extrapolating our strong pilot market results to a national scale with additional points of sale and geographic coverage gives us confidence we can disrupt and rapidly take significant share in the more than $80 billion U.S. market and $800 billion global tobacco market to create substantial value for our stakeholders.”

“We are thrilled to partner with 22nd Century Group to introduce VLN^® to adult smokers in Colorado,” said Terry Gallagher, President of Smoker Friendly^®. “VLN^® is the first of its kind, unlike any tobacco product out there in the marketplace today. We look forward to growing our portfolio of products with innovations such as this one.”

“These are exciting times for 22nd Century! With an unprecedented FDA MRTP marketing order, VLN^® is now on store shelves and has been extremely well received by adult smokers. Our goal is to offer a truly non-addictive conventional cigarette to adult smokers seeking alternatives, in line with the FDA’s separately stated policy interests to reduce nicotine levels to minimally or non-addictive levels in all tobacco cigarettes and to eliminate menthol as a flavoring characteristic. As an off-ramp for current adult smokers, 22nd Century VLN^® King cigarettes are the only combustible cigarette product on the market to already meet the reduced nicotine target, and we expect our VLN^® Menthol King cigarettes to be exempt from the FDA’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes as a key step in bringing those policy goals to reality,” explained James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group.

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII) is a leading agricultural biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco and improving health and wellness through plant science. With dozens of patents allowing it to control nicotine biosynthesis in the tobacco plant, the Company has developed proprietary reduced nicotine content (RNC) tobacco plants and cigarettes, which have become the cornerstone of the FDA’s Comprehensive Plan to address the widespread death and disease caused by smoking. The Company received the first and only FDA MRTP authorization of a combustible cigarette in December 2021. In tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hop plants, 22nd Century uses modern plant breeding technologies, including genetic engineering, gene-editing, and molecular breeding to deliver solutions for the life science and consumer products industries by creating new, proprietary plants with optimized alkaloid and flavonoid profiles as well as improved yields and valuable agronomic traits.

Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on YouTube.

Learn more about VLN^® at tryvln.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “explore,” “foresee,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “preliminary,” “probable,” “project,” “promising,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 1, 2022, and in the Company’s Quarterly Report filed on August 9, 2022. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Investor Relations & Media Contact
Mei Kuo
22nd Century Group, Inc.
Director, Communications & Investor Relations
[email protected]

Darrow Associates Investor Relations
Matt Kreps
T: 214-597-8200
[email protected]

This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.

About Ryan Allway

Mr. Allway has over a decade of experience in the financial markets as both a private investor and financial journalist. He has been actively involved in the cannabis industry since its inception, covering public and private companies.

• FDA’s Proposed Rule Draws on Research That Supports Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes Are Less Addictive
• 22nd Century Group’s FDA MRTP Authorized 95% Reduced Nicotine Cigarette Products Is Already Available to Meet Proposed Policy to Reduce Nicotine in All Cigarettes
• VLN^® Pilot Sales Across Circle K Stores in the Chicago Area Showing Strong Interest from Adult Smokers

BUFFALO, N.Y., June 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII), a leading agricultural biotechnology company dedicated to improving human health with reduced nicotine tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hops advanced plant technologies, is now selling the first and only 95% reduced nicotine content cigarette compliant with the renewed federal policy initiative to require all cigarettes sold in the U.S. be made minimally or non-addictive.

“We are delighted by today’s announcement from the Biden Administration, which is great news for adults who smoke and for 22nd Century Group,” said John Miller, president of 22nd Century’s tobacco programs. “The FDA requiring tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine content in all cigarettes sold in the United States has long been seen as the most powerful tool in the fight to reduce smoking and its grave health effects on citizens.”

“We are excited to pilot sales of the first and only cigarette designed specifically not to create and sustain addiction, but to instead reduce the hold of cigarette addiction on adult smokers,” said Miller. “The facts clearly demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of smokers want to quit, but few are able to do so, even after repeated attempts with current smoking cessation therapies or alternative nicotine products. VLN^® from 22nd Century offers a new approach in this fight – a tobacco cigarette that actually helps adult smokers reduce their nicotine consumption and smoke less. We are hopeful that many will also go on to quit their habit of smoking highly addictive cigarettes entirely.”

VLN^® King and VLN^® Menthol King 95% reduced nicotine content cigarettes from 22nd Century are the first and only cigarettes to secure the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) designation. Moreover, the FDA requires 22nd Century to also include “Helps You Smoke Less” on product packaging and advertising to further communicate to adult smokers the unique product attributes.

Both of 22nd Century Group’s reduced nicotine content products are being sold in a pilot program in the greater Chicagoland area through the nation’s second largest C-store chain, Circle K Stores. Pilot sales have indicated that there is a strong interest in a cigarette to help smokers smoke less as they seek to take control of their smoking habit.

Upon completion of the pilot program, VLN^® products are expected to advance to a national launch, making them available to more than 30 million adults who currently smoke highly addictive cigarettes in the U.S. Of those smokers, it is estimated that 70% want to quit. Each year, more than half of smokers make an attempt to quit, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data indicates only 7% succeed, regardless of the method they use. VLN^® reduced nicotine content cigarettes provide an additional tool to help smokers break their habit.

The MRTP designation and associated claims granted to 22nd Century’s VLN^® products were based on extensive, independent research showing that 22nd Century’s reduced nicotine content tobacco cigarettes smoke and taste like a conventional cigarettes, while containing 95% less nicotine. At that greatly reduced nicotine level, the clinical data and extensive federally-sponsored research show that 22nd Century’s products help smokers to smoke less, providing a new and innovative approach in the fight to reduce smoking in the U.S. Cigarette addiction continues to claim the lives of nearly half a million Americans each year.

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII) is a leading agricultural biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco and improving health and wellness through plant science. With dozens of patents allowing it to control nicotine biosynthesis in the tobacco plant, the Company has developed proprietary reduced nicotine content (RNC) tobacco plants and cigarettes, which have become the cornerstone of the FDA’s Comprehensive Plan to address the widespread death and disease caused by smoking. The Company received the first and only FDA MRTP authorization of a combustible cigarette in December 2021. In tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hop plants, 22nd Century uses modern plant breeding technologies, including genetic engineering, gene-editing, and molecular breeding to deliver solutions for the life science and consumer products industries by creating new, proprietary plants with optimized alkaloid and flavonoid profiles, as well as improved yields and other valuable agronomic traits.

Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on YouTube.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “explore,” “foresee,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “preliminary,” “probable,” “project,” “promising,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 11, 2021. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Investor Relations & Media Contact:
Mei Kuo
22nd Century Group, Inc.
Director, Communications & Investor Relations
T: 716-300-1221
[email protected]

Darrow Associates Investor Relations
Matt Kreps
T: 214-597-8200
[email protected]

This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.

About Ryan Allway

Mr. Allway has over a decade of experience in the financial markets as both a private investor and financial journalist. He has been actively involved in the cannabis industry since its inception, covering public and private companies.