22nd Century Announces Exclusive Worldwide Agreement with KeyGene for Genetic Development of Hemp/Cannabis
April 09 2019 - 8:05AM
Business Wire
Strategic collaboration will bolster 22nd
Century’s position as a global leader in hemp/cannabis
genetics.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII), a plant
biotechnology company that is a leader in tobacco harm reduction,
Very Low Nicotine Content tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research,
announced today that the Company has entered into a worldwide
strategic research and development agreement with KeyGene,
www.keygene.com, a global leader in plant research involving
high-value genetic traits and increased crop yields. This
exclusive, worldwide collaboration will focus on developing
hemp/cannabis plants with exceptional cannabinoid profiles for
medical and therapeutic use among other applications.
Cannabinoids are naturally occurring compounds found in hemp and
in cannabis that have been linked to a number of potential medical
benefits. The mix, concentration, and characteristics of these
cannabinoids vary widely and can be optimized through molecular
breeding and other modern crop improvement technologies that have
been utilized extensively in other crops, but which have been
utilized rarely in hemp and cannabis varieties.
The 22nd Century-KeyGene collaboration provides 22nd Century
access to a unique suite of crop innovation platforms, including
genomics, molecular genetics, trait discovery and breeding
technologies. Under the agreement, 22nd Century will hold exclusive
worldwide rights to all hemp/cannabis plant lines, intellectual
property on metabolic traits, and research results that are
developed through this strategic partnership. The focus of the
collaboration will include:
(i) Creating a cutting-edge genetic database
which utilizes the results of genomic analyses of several hundred
existing, exceptional hemp/cannabis plant lines for use in the
acceleration of the Company’s development and licensing of uniquely
characterized and improved hemp/cannabis plants;
(ii) Enhancing genetic variation to empower
22nd Century’s development of new and significantly improved
varieties of hemp/cannabis plant lines and varieties with highly
desirable cannabinoid profiles optimized for medicinal or
therapeutic applications;
(iii) Creating a proprietary and
industry-leading high-resolution “molecular genetic map” of the
entire cannabis plant genome to facilitate rapid, cost-effective
breeding of innovative varieties of hemp/cannabis plants with
distinctive agronomic traits;
(iv) Analyzing the genomic sequences of
multiple species of the hemp/cannabis plant and identifying shared
genetic markers, allowing 22nd Century to develop improved
commercial hemp/cannabis plant lines more rapidly than through
conventional plant breeding approaches; and
(v) Initiating the rapid-cycle generation of
hemp/cannabis plant lines with distinctive cannabinoid and terpene
profiles to create elite lines.
“22nd Century’s exclusive global collaboration with KeyGene is
expected to yield truly remarkable and novel medicinal cannabinoid
profiles and other highly desirable agronomic traits,” explained
Henry Sicignano III, President and Chief Executive Officer of 22nd
Century Group. “Combined with 22nd Century’s existing hemp/cannabis
technology, including our existing proprietary hemp/cannabis plant
lines, the KeyGene program will bolster 22nd Century’s position as
a global leader in hemp/cannabis genetics and, we expect, will lead
to significant commercialization ventures and other
opportunities.”
“22nd Century’s work with KeyGene will greatly enhance our
Company’s ability to utilize the cannabis genome and will enable us
to accelerate molecular breeding of new hemp/cannabis plant
varieties,” said Dr. Juan Tamburrino, 22nd Century’s Vice President
of Research and Development. “We believe our collaboration with
KeyGene will generate proprietary knowledge and will contribute
greatly to our intellectual property and patent portfolio.”
Work on the program will occur in multiple locations in the
United States and the Netherlands.
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
hemp/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
hemp/cannabis is to develop proprietary hemp strains for important
new medicines and agricultural crops. Visit www.xxiicentury.com and
www.botanicalgenetics.com for more information.
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, including but not limited to our future revenue
expectations. 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, 2018, filed on March 6, 2019,
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.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190409005292/en/
22nd Century GroupJames Vail, Director of
Communications716-270-1523jvail@xxiicentury.com
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