CLARENCE, N.Y.--()--22nd Century Group, Inc. (OTCBB: XXII), a company that has developed groundbreaking technology for tobacco harm reduction and smoking cessation products, today announced that the company has delivered an additional 2.7 million SPECTRUM® research cigarettes. SPECTRUM® was developed by 22nd Century for NIDA, a department of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is strictly for independent research purposes. SPECTRUM® will not be sold as a commercial cigarette.
The SPECTRUM® product line essentially consists of a series of cigarette styles that have a fixed “tar” yield but varying nicotine yields over a 50-fold range – from very low to high. Altogether, SPECTRUM® features 24 styles, 11 regular and 13 menthol versions, with 8 levels of nicotine content. The most prevalent style of SPECTRUM® produced for researchers is the very low nicotine (VLN) version, which has approximately 97% less nicotine than conventional “light” cigarettes.
Joseph Pandolfino, 22nd Century’s chief executive officer, stated, “As the only company in the world capable of producing cigarettes with such a wide range of nicotine levels, 22nd Century was chosen to supply its proprietary SPECTRUM® research cigarettes as a subcontractor under a 5-year federal government contract.” Dozens of research studies will be conducted with SPECTRUM®. The research will include: (i) smoking cessation studies, (ii) exposure studies comparing how different nicotine levels in cigarettes affect smoking behavior and exposure to smoke, and (iii) studies to determine whether there is a threshold nicotine level in cigarettes which does not produce dependence. Many of these studies would be very difficult, if not impossible, to conduct without SPECTRUM®.
22nd Century announced in September 2011 that the company delivered more than 9 million SPECTRUM® cigarettes. Including last week’s shipment, 22nd Century thus far has delivered approximately 12 million SPECTRUM® cigarettes, equating to 600,000 packs of 20 cigarettes. The New York Times reported on SPECTRUM® in October 2011 in a feature story titled, Cigarettes Are Enlisted to Test Ways of Quitting.
About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century is a plant biotechnology company whose proprietary technology allows for the level of nicotine and other nicotinic alkaloids (e.g., nornicotine, anatabine and anabasine) in the tobacco plant to be decreased or increased through genetic engineering and breeding. 22nd Century owns or is the exclusive licensee of 102 issued patents in 78 countries plus an additional 37 pending patent applications. Hercules Pharmaceuticals, LLC and Goodrich Tobacco Company, LLC are subsidiaries of 22nd Century focused on the company’s (i) prescription smoking cessation aid in development, X-22, and (ii) potential modified risk cigarettes, respectively. 22nd Century announced in April 2012 that applications will be filed in the second half of 2012 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for two types of its proprietary modified-risk cigarette candidates in accordance with the FDA’s March 30, 2012 Draft Guidance.
For additional information, please visit: www.xxiicentury.com
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