22nd Century Group Inc To Push For National Nicotine Reduction Policy

Source from:  MMJ Reporter 05/11/2016

22nd Century Group Inc has announced that the company CEO, Henry Sicignano III, would be participating in the 101st Annual Meeting of the Tobacco Merchants Association. The CEO would specifically part of a panel discussion at the event, titled "The Future of Nicotine". The meeting is to be held in Virginia, on May 10th. It should be noted here that 22nd Century Group itself is a plant biotechnology company, with a focus on the reduction of harmful effects of tobacco.

Apart from Mr. Sicignano, the VP of Japan Tobacco International, Jacques Coffeng and a senior VP of NJOY Inc, David Graham would also be present at the panel. Mr. Sicignano would be speaking in favor of using low nicotine and non-addictive cigarettes, to drastically reduce the harm caused by smoking. He will also discuss the use of high nicotine cigarettes, with consumers inhaling a fraction of the smoke and thereby reducing the adverse effects.

22nd Century Group makes use of its proprietary technology, to alter the genes inside a tobacco plant, in order to drastically reduce or maximize the nicotine levels inside the plant, depending on the desired output. Currently, the strategy to use tobacco with low nicotine levels is the only approved strategy for the company. The use of high nicotine, but low smoke strategy is currently being tested under a number of studies, sponsored by the FDA. The CEO of 22nd Century Group would be pushing for a national nicotine reduction policy at the conference, going in favor of the first strategy.

22nd Century Group also faces a lawsuit from Crede CG III Ltd. The lawsuit has been filed in connection with the termination of a joint a venture, between the two companies, by 22nd Century Group. The termination had been disclosed in June 2015, with 22nd Century Group stating non-performance as the main reason. 22nd Century has stated that it is confident that the evidence would show that the termination was initiated properly.

22nd Century Group Inc gained 1.09%, during the May 9 trading session, to reach a close at $0.805, after having a trade volume of 118,004. Enditem