22nd Century Group, Inc., a plant biotechnology company that is a leader in tobacco harm reduction and cannabis research, announced today that the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Botanical Genetics LLC, has expanded its cannabis research program to include multiple new research projects in support of its core mission, which is to develop proprietary cannabis strains for important new medicines and commercially viable agricultural crops. More specifically, Botanical Genetics is: 1) working to develop proprietary cannabis strains for novel, safe, and effective medical applications, and 2) developing very low THC industrial hemp varieties that may be legally grown in the U.S. and around the world as a commercial agricultural crop.
| Botanical Genetics is developing new technologies to make cannabis plants more amenable to genetic enhancement and improvement. | |||||
| 2) | Botanical Genetics is developing new methods for the manipulation of cannabis plants to result in unique cannabinoid profiles in proprietary strains of the plant. | ||||
| 3) | Together with its industry partners, Botanical Genetics is modifying cannabis plants to produce altered profiles of the major cannabinoids, leading both to new medical marijuana products and to new industrial hemp varieties. | ||||
| 4) | As previously announced, Botanical Genetics is developing the means to produce cannabinoids in tobacco – a plant species that shows great promise as a biofactory for the production of cannabinoids. | ||||
| 5) | Botanical Genetics is actively involved in several state-based industrial hemp pilot programs to develop and breed improved varieties of industrial hemp that are specifically optimized to grow in the climates of particular U.S. states. | ||||
In conducting the Company’s legal cannabis research, Botanical Genetics operates its own laboratories in New York, sponsors research activities in Vancouver, Canada, and partners with universities, commercial laboratories, and hemp/cannabis growers in an increasing number of U.S. states.
“We are the only company in the United States with the freedom to use all of the enzyme genes in the cannabis plant that lead to THC, CBD, CBC, and other important cannabinoids,” explained Henry Sicignano, III, President and CEO of 22nd Century. “I am proud that our unique – and growing – intellectual property portfolio puts 22nd Century at the forefront of cannabis biotechnology.”
Acknowledging 22nd Century’s growing influence in the cannabis technology arena, Dr. Paul Rushton, Vice President for Plant Biotechnology, and Thomas James, Vice President and General Counsel of 22nd Century, have been appointed to the advisory committee of the “iHemp Platform.” The iHemp Platform is a cooperative association of progressive hemp farmers, industry experts and university leaders who are working together on the successful implementation of state and regional industrial hemp pilot programs.
Dr. Rushton explained, “We have decisive plans to make Botanical Genetics the U.S. leader in cannabis biotechnology. The medical marijuana and industrial hemp markets are projected to be worth billions of dollars in the very near term and we intend to be a major player in these developing industries.”
