22nd Century Group Provides Business Update Letter from CEO - Seite 3

Additionally, authorization in conjunction with an FDA mandate to reduce nicotine content in all cigarettes sold in the United States would open multiple licensing and partnership opportunities for 22nd Century’s proprietary RNC tobacco intellectual property (IP) and technology, again significantly expanding our addressable market and revenue opportunities.

That is why securing the FDA authorization for VLN cigarettes continues as my number one priority as CEO of 22nd Century Group. I hope that you and other social media users will make it a priority as well.

At 22nd Century, we have actively communicated with Congressional representatives to ask for their support for our MRTP application and more importantly, to move forward assertively with the FDA’s proposed mandate to limit the levels of nicotine in combustibles to “minimally or non-addictive” levels. We have also expanded our public relations, public affairs, and social media efforts, to keep authorization top of mind for our friends at the FDA, other government agencies, and in the tobacco industry. Including:

• An op-ed in our hometown paper, The Buffalo News, urging the FDA to proceed with their proposed plan to limit nicotine in traditional cigarettes;
• A news release on expanding planting of VLN tobacco to meet the expected demand for our VLN RNC cigarettes;
• News on an order for 3.6 million of our SPECTRUM Variable Nicotine Cigarettes to support U.S. Government Research;
• An op-ed penned by our Vice President of Regulatory Science, John Pritchard, that urges the FDA to accelerate the implementation of its nicotine mandate.

Cannabis: Breakthrough in Accelerating and Developing Desirable Commercial Traits

Turning attention to our hemp/cannabis side of the business, we were excited to share news about a truly incredible breakthrough earlier this month.

In collaboration with researchers from KeyGene, our scientists have developed a cutting-edge molecular breeding platform that will enable 22nd Century and our strategic partners to quickly identify and accelerate the development of new varieties of hemp/cannabis plants with commercially valuable traits.

Traditional breeding methods can take ten years or longer to develop new varieties of hemp/cannabis plants that express desired traits. With 22nd Century’s breakthrough molecular breeding technology, we can dramatically improve the development process time that it takes to develop new, high-value hemp/cannabis cultivars – a tremendous value to this large, emerging market. In a recent research report, Prohibition Partners estimates that legal cannabis sales in North America alone reached approximately $18.1 billion in 2020 and is projected to rise to $39.1 billion by 2025. Additionally, the global legal hemp/cannabis market is estimated to be worth upwards of $100 billion annually by 2024. You can read more about 22nd Century’s innovation in this very attractive market, here.