22nd Century Group Names Henry Sicignano III Chief Executive Officer
March 03 2015 - 11:46AM
Business Wire
The Board of Directors of 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE
MKT:XXII) announced today that Henry Sicignano III has been named
to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Sicignano will
continue to serve as the Company’s President and will remain on the
Board of Directors.
“The Board of Directors has had the opportunity to work directly
with Henry over the past few months and is convinced that there is
no better person to lead the company forward,” said James W.
Cornell, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “Henry is a proven
leader with outstanding business development skills, strategic
vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how
22nd Century will monetize the Company’s proprietary technologies
is exactly what 22nd Century needs at this exciting stage in the
Company’s growth.”
Since joining the Company as President in 2010, Mr. Sicignano
has spearheaded major initiatives across a range of business areas,
recently establishing a strategic partnership with Smoker Friendly
International, the nation’s largest dealer network of cigarette
stores, and securing contract manufacturing and distribution
agreements to launch the Company’s MAGIC® brand of cigarettes in
Europe. Going forward, Mr. Sicignano has defined 22nd Century’s top
priorities as: establishing multi-year international sales
contracts for the Company’s proprietary tobacco products (with
immediate focus on Asia); submitting to the FDA a Modified Risk
Application for the Company’s Brand A very low nicotine cigarettes;
and identifying a joint venture partner to fund Phase III clinical
trials for X-22, the Company’s smoking cessation aid in
development.
“22nd Century is in the rare position of having a virtual
monopoly around the nicotine biosynthetic pathway in the tobacco
plant; I am honored and tremendously excited to have been chosen to
lead the Company as we begin to commercialize our extraordinary IP
portfolio,” Mr. Sicignano said. “As the tobacco industry begins a
true paradigm shift toward the development and commercialization of
reduced-risk tobacco products, 22nd Century is uniquely positioned
to become a key player in both the smoking harm reduction and the
smoking cessation markets. A key part of my job will be to seize
these opportunities by focusing our management team and the
Company’s business development investments on our technology’s most
important commercial applications.”
For additional information, please visit:
www.xxiicentury.com
About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century is a plant biotechnology company whose proprietary
technology allows for the levels 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 plant breeding. The Company’s technology also
allows the levels of cannabinoids to be decreased or increased in
the cannabis plant. 22nd Century owns or exclusively controls 128
issued patents plus an additional 52 pending patent applications;
the patents owned by us or exclusively licensed to us include
patents issued in 96 countries. Goodrich Tobacco is focused on
commercial tobacco products and potentially less harmful
cigarettes. Botanical Genetics is focused on novel cannabis plant
varieties and on cannabis-based products. Hercules Pharmaceuticals
is focused on X-22, a prescription smoking cessation aid in
development.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This press
release contains forward-looking information, including all
statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the
intent, belief or current expectations of 22nd Century Group, Inc.,
its directors or its officers with respect to the contents of this
press release. The words “may,” “would,” “will,” “expect,”
“estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend” and similar
expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee future results,
levels of activity or performance. You should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should
be considered with any written or oral forward-looking statements
that we may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable
law, including the securities laws of the United States, we do not
intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform
these statements to reflect actual results, later events or
circumstances, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events. You should carefully review and consider the various
disclosures made by us in our annual report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, filed on February 5, 2015,
including the section entitled “Risk Factors,” and our other
reports filed with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission which
attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that
may affect our business, financial condition, results of operation
and cash flows. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our
actual results may vary materially from those expected or
projected.
Redington, Inc.Tom Redington, 203-222-7399
22nd Century (AMEX:XXII)
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