CLARENCE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE MKT: XXII), a plant biotechnology company that is a leader in tobacco harm reduction, announced today that the Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention (CEBP) journal has published a new independent study which found that using 22nd Century’s proprietary Very Low Nicotine tobacco cigarettes “may reduce harm exposure.” Further, “negative smoking behaviors do not increase, and exposure to nicotine and many toxic cigarette constituents likely decrease.”

A group of eight researchers from the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Nicotine Addiction at the University of Pennsylvania and the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota conducted the randomized clinical trial which involved 158 non-treatment-seeking smokers. The researchers concluded that the study’s data provide “further support of reduced smoking and exposure with very low nicotine content cigarettes.”

The study demonstrated that a reduction of nicotine to only moderate levels (0.6 – 0.3 mg nicotine yield) does not appear to reduce smoking and, to the contrary, actually increases cigarette consumption significantly. In contrast, the “use of very low nicotine cigarettes [0.05mg nicotine yield] decreased daily consumption, as well as nicotine and toxicant exposure…” The study references the similar results achieved in the ground breaking clinical trial lead by Donny et al. that was published in the October 2015 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

“A moderate reduction in nicotine – something that many big tobacco companies can achieve – appears to have no beneficial effects on smokers’ health, and may in fact lead to increased smoking,” explained Henry Sicignano, III, President and Chief Executive Officer of 22nd Century Group. “Conversely, 22nd Century is the only company in the world capable of producing combustible cigarettes containing naturally grown tobacco with 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes. Time and again, independent clinical studies clearly show that 22nd Century’s Very Low Nicotine cigarettes have important benefits to smokers who wish to lessen their exposure to nicotine.”

Study scientists in the CEBP journal reported that reduced nicotine content cigarettes “have limited design and constituent information available…” However, with the remarkable increase in research on 22nd Century’s proprietary Very Low Nicotine tobacco, that point was recently resolved in the April 2016 edition of Tobacco Regulatory Science, which published a detailed characterization of 22nd Century’s proprietary variable nicotine level SPECTRUM® research cigarettes and concluded that SPECTRUM cigarettes are an “important tool in clinical studies for investigating… the impact of reduced nicotine cigarettes on nicotine addiction…” See also the Company’s June 16, 2016 press release summarizing the Tobacco Regulatory Science article.

22nd Century’s Vice President for Plant Biotechnology, Dr. Paul Rushton, explained, “Based on an ever-increasing number of scientific publications, a very clear picture has emerged illustrating the significant benefits of our proprietary Very Low Nicotine tobacco. It seems clear that at very low levels of nicotine, people smoke less and are exposed to smaller amounts of toxic constituents. For these reasons, public health officials are beginning to consider public policy changes that could bring 22nd Century’s products to consumers around the world who seek Very Low Nicotine product choices.”

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.

22nd Century is a plant biotechnology company focused on technology which allows it to increase or decrease the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in cannabis plants through genetic engineering and plant breeding. The Company’s primary mission is to reduce the harm caused by smoking. 22nd Century currently owns or exclusively controls more than 200 issued patents and more than 50 pending patent applications around the world. Visit www.xxiicentury.com for more information.

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