22nd Century Group Provides Business Update Letter from CEO

Global Commercial Opportunities in Approximately +$800 Billion Markets Across Tobacco and Hemp/Cannabis

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y., Feb. 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII), a leading plant-based, biotechnology company that is focused on tobacco harm reduction, very low nicotine content tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, today provided a business update letter from Chief Executive Officer, James A. Mish.

Dear Fellow Shareholders,

As the Chief Executive Officer of 22nd Century Group in this important first quarter of 2021, I am proud of what our team was able to accomplish in 2020, and I look forward to sharing our financial results with you during our next quarterly earnings update in March. We are entering what I believe will be a pivotal year for 22nd Century. Since reporting third quarter earnings last November, shares of 22nd Century have appreciated 343% to $3.82¹. Still, I believe the Company’s current share price greatly undervalues the untapped potential of our business and of our extraordinary potential in very large and highly attractive markets.

Primary Mission

Top of mind for 22nd Century in the first quarter of 2021, as it is for many of our investors, is the status of our Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize our VLN reduced nicotine content (RNC) cigarettes. We are highly confident that our application is in the FDA’s final review stage and upon receiving authorization, we believe 22nd Century will be the first, and likely the only, company to receive a MRTP designation for a combustible cigarette.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that more than two-thirds of smokers want to quit and that more than half of all smokers report having made a quit attempt in the past year – yet fewer than one in ten smokers succeed in actually quitting each year. Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. It is clear that adult smokers are actively seeking alternatives to addictive, combustible cigarettes.

22nd Century’s VLN cigarettes contain 95% less nicotine than traditional combustible cigarettes available on the market today. When told about our reduced nicotine content cigarettes, 60% of adult smokers indicated a likelihood to use VLN². With more than 34 million smokers in the United States and more than 1 billion smokers worldwide, VLN has near-term blockbuster potential. This puts 22nd Century in a very enviable – and near standalone - position to capitalize on the global combustible market that is valued at more than $700 billion annually. Having the only combustible cigarette with a modified exposure claim authorized by the FDA would serve as a catalyst for 22nd Century’s commercial sales, as achieving even 0.25% share of the U.S. tobacco market would result in a substantial increase in revenue and market capitalization for the Company. This will be our home run.