BUFFALO, N.Y., Nov. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —


GVB Biopharma


, a 22nd Century Group company (Nasdaq:


XXII


), today announced that it has opened a new, strategically-located distribution facility in the Netherlands to support its growing business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The new distribution facility will increase existing and new customer access to GVB’s quality hemp/cannabis products, speed up transaction flow, and optimize cross border tax and customs treatment.

Recent increases in GVB’s U.S. manufacturing capacity are complementary to the advent of the Company’s Netherlands distribution facility. Additional capacity is in part earmarked to satisfy increasing demand in European markets where margins are higher than in the U.S.

“We are excited to expand our business operations in Europe, allowing our customers and partners to access quality products in a more efficient manner,” said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. “With our new Netherlands distribution facility, we can now deliver product to our partners in half the time and better serve our growing customer base with quality distillate and isolates. In Europe, the hemp/cannabis industry is expanding rapidly and is expected to reach €3.2 billion by 2025. Our new facility will allow us to capture more of that market share, scale our operations, and expand our customer base in this region.”

About GVB Biopharma




GVB Biopharma


, a 22nd Century company, is a global-scale specialty ingredient supplier and contract development & manufacturing organization (CDMO) with manufacturing locations in Nevada and Oregon. GVB is the largest merchant provider of cannabinoid extracts and isolates in North America with a focus on cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) extracted and refined at an industrial scale into distillates and isolates. GVB Biopharma’s facilities are NSF International audited and are cGMP Registered for dietary supplements manufacturing. GVB is widely regarded as a best-in-class operator with a leading position in the hemp-derived active ingredients market, with around 15% market share and growing. GVB is also a white-label contract manufacturer of tinctures, gel capsules, gummies, mints, tablets, topical, and vape offerings.

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.


22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:


XXII


) is a leading agricultural biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco and improving health and wellness through plant science. With dozens of patents allowing it to control nicotine biosynthesis in the tobacco plant, the Company has developed proprietary reduced nicotine content (RNC) tobacco plants and cigarettes, which have become the cornerstone of the


FDA’s Comprehensive Plan


to address the widespread death and disease caused by smoking. The Company received the first and only FDA MRTP authorization of a combustible cigarette in December 2021. In tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hop plants, 22nd Century uses modern plant breeding technologies, including genetic engineering, gene-editing, and molecular breeding to deliver solutions for the life science and consumer products industries by creating new, proprietary plants with optimized alkaloid and flavonoid profiles as well as improved yields and valuable agronomic traits.

Learn more at


xxiicentury.com


, on


Twitter


, on


LinkedIn


, and on


YouTube


.

Learn more about VLN

^®

at

tryvln.com

.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements


Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “explore,” “foresee,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “preliminary,” “probable,” “project,” “promising,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 1, 2022, and in the Company’s Quarterly Report filed on August 9, 2022. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

GVB Biopharma U.K. & Europe Contact


Karl Muldowney

Commercial Director, GVB U.K. & Europe


[email protected]

Investor Relations & Media Contact


Mei Kuo

22nd Century Group, Inc.

Director, Communications & Investor Relations


[email protected]

Darrow Associates Investor Relations

Matt Kreps

[email protected]