Seeding Program Will Produce Tobacco for Up To 2 Billion Sticks – The Entire Annual Cigarette Consumption of New Zealand – To Make Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes Readily Available at National Scale

VLN^® Poised to Serve as the Foundational Cigarette for Reduced Nicotine Content Public Health Policies Worldwide

BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII), a leading biotechnology company dedicated to improving health with reduced nicotine tobacco, hemp/cannabis and hops advanced plant technologies, today announced it has accelerated a major seed cultivation project for its proprietary reduced nicotine content tobaccos to support local authorities as they work to implement New Zealand’s new reduced nicotine content law starting from this year. The seed will be used to rapidly scale the availability of 22nd Century’s reduced nicotine content tobacco leaf to manufacture cigarettes compliant with New Zealand’s new reduced nicotine content law.

“New Zealand’s groundbreaking new law will require a sizeable expansion of reduced nicotine content tobacco leaf production to address market needs. 22nd Century’s ultra-low nicotine content tobaccos are the only commercial scale naturally grown tobacco varieties ready to meet the New Zealand law today. We are moving immediately to ensure sufficient leaf capacity of our reduced nicotine content tobacco to serve the entire New Zealand market as the new law is implemented,” said John Miller, president of tobacco products for 22nd Century Group.

22nd Century’s proprietary reduced nicotine content tobacco varieties grow with 95% less nicotine than the commercial tobaccos used in making cigarettes for the New Zealand market. Significantly, 22nd Century’s non-GMO tobacco varieties are already compliant with the New Zealand law, which requires all combustible cigarettes to contain less than 0.8 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco, inclusive of testing variance.

22nd Century’s expanded growing program, centered in the heart of the US tobacco belt, will produce additional seed sufficient for approximately 2 billion sticks, the entire annual New Zealand cigarette market volume.

“New Zealand has taken the global lead in tobacco control through its new law, which will reduce the harms of smoking and improve public health and health equity, particularly among minority communities that are disproportionately burdened with the health and economic harms of smoking,” said John D. Pritchard, vice president of regulatory science at 22nd Century.

22nd Century continues to actively support the New Zealand Government’s Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 plan, including executive testimony at the New Zealand Health Select Committee, engaging with a wide range of health stakeholders and continuing engagement with regulators in support of implementation of the new law.

“As we increase quantities of our reduced nicotine tobacco seed, 22nd Century is demonstrating conclusively that the tobacco supply chain will pivot quickly to support the ramp up of the national-scale public health program,” Miller added.

Using 22nd Century Group’s reduced nicotine tobacco, the Company’s VLN^® cigarettes boast an ultra-low nicotine content that is 95% less than conventional cigarettes, a level of nicotine the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers to be “minimally or non-addictive” and which helps existing adult smokers to smoke less. VLN^® cigarettes are poised to serve as the foundational cigarette for reduced nicotine public health policies in New Zealand, the United States, and around the world. Such momentous reduced nicotine health policies are rapidly taking shape. The FDA recently announced plans to advance its transformative reduced nicotine content standards later in 2023, which seeks to limit the nicotine levels in all cigarettes to a level considered “minimally or non-addictive.”

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII) is a leading biotechnology company focused on utilizing advanced alkaloid plant technologies to improve health and wellness through tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco, hemp/cannabis and hops. 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 Modified Risk Tobacco Product (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 November 8, 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
Matt Kreps
22nd Century Group, Inc.
Investor Relations
mkreps@xxiicentury.com
214-597-8200

Source: 22nd Century Group, Inc

Released February 22, 2023

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.

• Committed to Supporting New Zealand’s Reduced Nicotine Law with Its Tobacco Biotechnology
• New Law Represents Significant Opportunity to Improve National Health through Well Designed Public Policy Framework
• Believes New Zealand Law Provides a Template for Similar Action in Other Countries, Including the United States

Buffalo, New York–(Newsfile Corp. – December 13, 2022) –  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 commented on the advancement of a proposed New Zealand law designed to reduce the harms of smoking.

A key provision of the newly passed Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill requires all combustible tobacco cigarettes sold in New Zealand to contain no more than 0.8 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco, inclusive of testing variance, a level considered to be non-addictive.

By including testing variance in the maximum permitted nicotine content of smoked tobacco products, New Zealand is compelling cigarette makers to target an average value of approximately 0.5 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco content, the level achieved by 22nd Century Group’s VLN^® products, the only tobacco cigarette that meets the New Zealand standard today.

“We applaud New Zealand for leading the world with a groundbreaking new policy approach to improve public health by eliminating highly addictive nicotine cigarettes, the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the country and around the world,” said John D. Pritchard, vice president of regulatory science at 22nd Century. “This policy is exactly what we were hoping for and more, particularly considering the inclusion of testing variance in evaluating nicotine content. This innovative approach forces manufacturers to cut the nicotine content in cigarettes to a level even below the new threshold. Our VLN^® products are designed specifically for this type of policy, with years of research, documentation, and industry expertise to support our unique capabilities. In crafting the new law, New Zealand has been particularly focused on improving the health as well as financial well-being of Māori and Pasifika peoples where smoking rates are disproportionately higher than the national average.”

Despite 20-years of declining smoking rates, New Zealand smokers still consume approximately 2 billion highly addictive tobacco cigarettes each year. Reducing the nicotine content of smoked tobacco is expected to help New Zealand achieve its goal to reduce the smoking rate to less than 5% of its population. The reduced nicotine requirement will become law following Royal Assent, the final procedural step for a bill to become law in New Zealand, with the requirement taking effect within 27 months.

At 0.5 mg/g of nicotine, VLN^® from 22nd Century is the only cigarette in the world purposefully designed to “Help You Smoke Less” and able to meet the New Zealand standard today. 22nd Century Group’s proprietary VLN^® cigarettes smoke, smell, and taste like a cigarette but contain approximately 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes, a level designed to reduce nicotine dependence.

“22nd Century Group is 100% committed to enabling a reduced nicotine future for New Zealand through our plant biotechnology and VLN^® reduced nicotine content cigarettes, the world’s first and only combustible cigarettes to receive Modified Risk Tobacco Product authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. “New Zealand’s trailblazing policy approach provides a template for other countries around the world to secure the tremendous public health and economic benefits of reduced smoking rates, through the reduction of nicotine.”

More information about the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill and New Zealand’s legislative process can be found on New Zealand’s parliamentary website.

Similar to New Zealand, the U.S. FDA is presently advancing two game changing policy proposals to reduce the harms of smoking. 22nd Century supports the FDA’s proposed menthol cigarette ban, which could leave VLN^® Menthol King as the only combustible menthol cigarette on the market, providing a critical off-ramp to help current menthol smokers to smoke less. Additionally, the FDA’s Comprehensive Plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation proposes to require that all cigarettes be made “minimally or non-addictive.” 22nd Century has the only FDA-authorized combustible cigarette able to meet the stringent reduced nicotine content product standard proposed under the FDA’s plan.

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 November 8, 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
Darrow Associates Investor Relations
Matt Kreps
T: 214-597-8200
[email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/147834

SOURCE 22nd Century Group

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.

After legalizing the distribution of Cannabis licenses to several businesses, Cannabis sales are increasing day by day. When the selling of Cannabis increased at that time, people of New Zealand decided whether they want the recreation of Cannabis production in their country or not. They decided in the general election by simply stating “yes” or “no” if they want to legalize Cannabis in their country.

Next year there will be elections held in New Zealand for the new government. At that time it will be decided if people want marijuana to be legal in New Zealand or not.

At first, marijuana was considered as one of the most abused drugs. But due to the health benefits of Marijuana, the government is deciding to again legalize the use of the Marijuana in several states of New Zealand. But this can only happen when the people are casting their “yes” votes in the next election.

When they vote for their next government, New Zealanders will also check a box to either support or oppose the regulated adult-use marijuana industry. Justice Minister Andrew Little declared that the vote will be binding, but it will be up to the next administration to enact it after gaining power.

“The voters’ choice will be binding because of all of the parties that make up the current
The government has committed to abide by the outcome,” he said.

Age in which the people can use Marijuana products

The people who are using marijuana products should be at the legal age of 20. Otherwise, it should be illegal if a person under the age of 20 is using the products or even possesses marijuana products. All marijuana products are considered as one of the most psychoactive drugs from which people get high after its consumption.

After regular usage, in some cases, people also get addicted to it. There are also some kids who have died due to the usage of marijuana plants. So, after they become 20, people can purchase the marijuana plant.

How many peoples in New Zealand is with Marijuana products?

In New Zealand, almost 60% of people want Marijuana products to be legalized in New Zealand. The rest of the people are not in favor of legalizing marijuana in New Zealand due to the drugs past abuse.