GlobeNewswire Inc | Oct 19, 2020 10:00AM EDT

October 19, 2020

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII), a leading plant-based, life science company driven by next generation biotechnology, announced today that Mitchell R. Zeller, director of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will provide an update on the FDAs Comprehensive Plan for Tobacco and Nicotine Products at the Food and Drug Law Institutes (FDLI) Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference on Wednesday October 21, 2020 at 11:15 a.m. ET.

In addition to Zellers presentation, 22nd Centurys Vice President of Regulatory Science, John Pritchard, will participate in the conferences Nicotine and Harm Reduction panel on Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 1:15 p.m. ET. 22nd Centurys Michael Zercher, president and chief operating officer, and Steven Przybyla, general counsel and corporate secretary, will also be in attendance.

I am delighted to participate in this important conference and to support, with our reduced nicotine technology, FDAs plan to implement a reduced nicotine product standard, said Pritchard. The science is clear. By limiting the nicotine content of all combustible cigarettes to levels achieved in our VLN cigarettes, the FDA projects that five million adult smokers would quit one year after implementation and over eight million American lives would be saved by the end of the century. Our goal for this conference, as in general, is to advance common-sense tobacco and nicotine regulation and unite against the tragic toll of cigarette addiction to improve public health in America.

This years conference brings together a diverse group of stakeholders, including public health advocates, researchers, manufacturers, lawyers, consumer interest groups, entrepreneurs, governmental agencies, and others to discuss effective regulation across the broad spectrum of tobacco and nicotine products in the United States.

Nicotine remains a central part of the FDAs landmark 2017 Comprehensive Plan for Tobacco and Nicotine Regulation, which addresses the root cause of nearly half a million American deaths each year, caused by highly addictive tobacco products. Upon announcing the FDAs plan to substantially reduce the nicotine in cigarettes, former FDA Commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb remarked: The overwhelming amount of death and disease attributable to tobacco is caused by addiction to cigarettes the only legal consumer product that, when used as intended, will kill half of all long-term users.

Panelists will examine the public health impact of regulating nicotine content across the broad spectrum of tobacco and nicotine products; the ways in which policies can help minimize users' health risks; and the mitigation of potential unintended consequences. Pritchard will also discuss 22nd Centurys role in ensuring the adoption of the FDAs proposed reduced nicotine product standard, requiring all cigarettes sold in the U.S. to be minimally... or non-addictive. 22nd Century is committed to making reduced nicotine technology available to the entire tobacco industry. Licensing the Companys reduced nicotine technology to tobacco companies will allow the industry to deliver on their commitments to reduce combustible cigarette consumption and to comply with the FDAs reduced nicotine standard.

22nd Century believes that the FDA is in the final stages of its decision-making process for the Companys Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) Applications for VLN. An authorization decision by the FDA will bring to market the first and only combustible cigarettes available with 95% less nicotine compared to other cigarettes, further demonstrating the technical feasibility of the FDAs generationally significant product standard.

Pritchards presentation will be accessible in the Investors section of 22nd Centurys website, under Events.

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) is a leading, plant-based, life science company that develops and provides disruptive, commercial solutions to the life science, consumer products, and pharmaceutical markets. Working with tobacco and hemp/cannabis plants, 22nd Century is dedicated to its mission of reducing the harm caused by smoking. The Companys proprietary reduced nicotine VLN cigarettes contain 95% less nicotine than conventional brands and are poised to disrupt the more than $800 billion global tobacco market. 22nd Century owns orcontrols more than 200 issued and pending patents related to the tobacco and hemp/cannabis plants.

Learn more atxxiicentury.com, on Twitter@_xxiicenturyand onLinkedIn.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsExcept 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 our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 11, 2020 and in our subsequently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Investor Relations & Media Contact:Mei KuoDirector, Communications & Investor Relations22nd Century Group, Inc.(716) 300-1221mkuo@xxiicentury.com