22nd Century Group, Inc. (OTCBB: XXII)
today announced that the European Patent Office issued a Notice of Grant
to the company for the NBB and A622 genes. Both genes are responsible
for nicotine production in the tobacco plant. International Patent
Application PCT/IB2006/004043, from which European Patent Application
No. 06848676.0 was derived, covers methods for producing tobacco plants
with increased nicotine levels and tobacco plants and products produced
therefrom. Patents will be issued by the European Patent Office in
countries selected by 22nd Century within the next few months and will
expire in September 2026.
Dr. Takashi Hashimoto of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology
(NAIST), a world-renowned plant molecular biologist, is an inventor of
the technology. 22nd Century funded research and development at NAIST
from 2005 to 2009 and NAIST assigned various related patent families to
22nd Century in 2010, including the NBB and A622 technologies.
International Patent Application PCT/IB2006/001741 covers methods
utilizing NBB and A622 for producing tobacco plants and products with
decreased nicotine levels.
The NBB gene encodes a protein involved in the final step of nicotine
biosynthesis, “nicotine synthase,” which has eluded scientists for
decades. This protein can either be down-regulated or up-regulated to
produce tobacco varieties with a wide range of nicotine levels.
The company’s vice president of research and development, Dr. Michael
Moynihan stated, “The NBB gene technology is one of the keystones of
22nd Century’s intellectual property and represents our
second-generation gene technology that has significant advantages over
our earlier technology.” Specifically, the sole function of NBB is to
produce nicotine and other nicotinic alkaloids.
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. 22nd Century owns or is the exclusive licensee of 114 issued
patents in 78 countries plus an additional 36 pending patent
applications. Goodrich Tobacco Company, LLC and Hercules
Pharmaceuticals, LLC are wholly-owned subsidiaries of 22nd Century.
Goodrich Tobacco is focused on commercial tobacco products and potential
modified risk cigarettes. 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,
2012, filed on March 18, 2013, 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.
Copyright Business Wire 2013