World-Renowned Smoking Cessation Scientist, Dr. Michael Cummings, To Present Keynote Address At 22nd Century Group, Inc. Annual Shareholder Meeting

CLARENCE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE MKT: XXII), a plant biotechnology company that is focused on tobacco harm reduction and cannabis research, announced today that K. Michael Cummings, PhD, MPH, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, will present the keynote address at 22nd Century Group’s annual shareholder meeting. The annual shareholder meeting will be held on Saturday, April 29, 2017, at 2:00PM at the Buffalo Club in downtown Buffalo, New York. The annual meeting will be open to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 10, 2017.

Recognized internationally for his work in tobacco epidemiology and smoking cessation, Dr. Cummings is often called on to guide global tobacco control policy initiatives. Dr. Cummings co-leads the Tobacco Policy and Control research program at the Hollings Cancer Center of the Medical University of South Carolina. As the principal investigator of a project funded by the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Cummings works to evaluate the psychosocial, behavioral, and product-related impacts of the tobacco control policies which are articulated through the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This international project involves more than 20 countries and over 100 research scientists.

Over a 30-year period, Dr. Cummings has served as a Cancer Research Scientist and later the Chairman of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s Department of Health Behavior where he helped to establish the Smokers’ Quitline service in the State of New York. A prolific scientific researcher, Dr. Cummings has authored or co-authored over 420 scientific papers, including the landmark reports for the Office of the Surgeon General, the National Cancer Institute, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Dr. Cummings is heavily involved in smoking cessation and nicotine addiction research, co-authoring a report which demonstrated improved stop smoking results when smokers combined the use of Very Low Nicotine tobacco cigarettes with the nicotine patch: Tob Res. 2007. 9(11):1139-1146.

In 2009, Dr. Cummings’ extensive body of work in smoking behavior and many contributions to the field of public health earned him the prestigious Luther Terry Award, which is presented by the American Cancer Society. Shareholders are encouraged to attend 22nd Century’s annual shareholder meeting on April 29, 2017 and welcome to Dr. Cummings as he provides insight into the science and policy surrounding tobacco control.

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 in tobacco is to reduce the harm caused by smoking. The Company’s primary mission in cannabis is to develop proprietary cannabis strains for important new medicines and agricultural crops. Visit www.xxiicentury.com and www.botanicalgenetics.com for more information.

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